Lyubertsy (aka “Lyuber”, “Lyuber”) are the names of an aggressively-minded group of young people that operated in the city of Lyubertsy near Moscow in the mid-1980s. Having formed in this small city, this subculture quickly spread to neighboring cities and towns of the Moscow region.
From the history of the movement
It all started back in 1983-1984, when small gangs of Kazan punks - "winders" began to appear in Moscow and the region. They "toured" in this region, engaging in petty robbery, thefts, and organized riots. Perhaps it was these visiting gangs that were inspired by Lyubertsy teenagers.
How did the Lyuber movement develop?
Young people in Lyubertsy have been fond of weightlifting since the late 70s. Perhaps the Olympic Games planned in the USSR contributed to this. Naturally, in the wake of the increased interest in sports in the country, teenagers, with the help of various children's sports organizations, easily got premises for their own gyms.
According to the recollections of contemporaries, the first independently equipped "rocking chairs" appeared in Lyubertsy in the mid-70s.
Naturally, all members of such "underground sports clubs" completely rejected alcohol, tobacco and drugs. This was done in order to "swing" as soon as possible and as efficiently as possible.
District to district
The resulting force had to be applied somewhere. In the late 70s, Lyuber fights in discos, organized large-scale battles "district to district". By the beginning of the 80s, such fights were not a rare occurrence in the entire USSR. Then the Lyuber began to travel to neighboring cities, then they got to Moscow.
The ideology of the Lyuberians in the mid-80s
By that time, the Luber were no longer fighting sports hooligans from other cities and regions, but with metalheads, punks, hippies, national minorities, and football fans. In other words, with everyone who looked and behaved incorrectly, i.e. "Fell under the influence of Western ideology."
Lyuber by that time called themselves the cleaners of the Motherland and patriots. At the same time, they did not forget, after beating up the "traitor of the Motherland", to grab something of his values (rock paraphernalia, good shoes, jackets, hats, etc.). The Lyuers gathered in groups and waited for heavy music lovers at the exit from the concerts to arrange a large-scale showdown.
The appearance of the Lyuber
In the late 70s, Lyuber could be recognized by sweatpants and T-shirts, suspenders. As for shoes, they preferred sneakers or ordinary house slippers. By the 80m, almost every Lyuber had trousers in a cage and the famous caps with small peaks.
A distinctive element of the appearance of the Lyuber was the Komsomol badges with the image of Lenin. A huge number of restless punks from all over the country, thanks to newspapers, learned about the Lyuber movement. At some point, it became fashionable to be a Lyuber. Their own Lyubers appeared in the Baltics, Belarus, Siberia, Ukraine.
End of movement
By 1987, the ideology of the first Lyuberians had gradually evaporated. The image of the new enemy was not formed, so the elders of the Lyuberians (who had already served their sentences by that time) organized their fighters into gangs of an openly criminal nature. They were engaged in extortion, racketeering, theft, torture and even murder.
So the 90s approached. Most of the members of the movement died in the criminal wars of this difficult period for the country. In general, the Lyuber movement has become another symbol of the collapse of Soviet ideology. The history of the movement is reflected in the art of cinema, music, literature.