Yana, a 12-year-old Moscovite, is worried she will have to give up her hobby of quadrobics -- a fitness and social media trend that involves imitating the movements of four-legged animals. Russian officials, Orthodox clergymen and pro-government intellectuals have harshly criticised the trend in recent weeks, portraying it as a dangerous import from a decadent West. In line with a hardening of Russia's ultra-conservative social agenda since the start of the offensive on Ukraine in February 2022, lawmakers have recently proposed to ban quadrobics.
The proposal comes after similar interdictions against the LGBTQ movement and even against couples that don't want to have children -- moves touted by Moscow as necessary to defend Russia's "traditional values". "We are being told how many children to have and how they should play? Seriously?" said Yana's 38-year-old mother, Yulia, a travel agent. Yulia spoke on condition of anonymity fearing potential repercussions in Russia's increasingly repressive environment.
In their upmarket Moscow apartment, Yulia helped her daughter sort through the various bushy tails and cat and fox masks she has made. Yana, who prefers to do quadrobics at home or in a park with friends, said it is "too cool". "Physically, I have become stronger.
I can walk on my hands!" she said. The emerging trend has raised hackles in some circles. It was the subject of a roundtable in Moscow in July on "the struggle against Satanism" and is debated at length on state t.
