Letter from Liubertsy

Sergei R., A Letter from Liubertsy. December 14, 1986

Translated by Jeff Burds

Original Source: Komsomol’skaia pravda, 14 December 1986.

Dear Editors,

My name is Sergei R. I’m sixteen and I live in Liubertsy. Yes, that’s right, Liubertsy. I’m writing because I’ve read a lot of crap about us Liubers and our town.

There are lots of different youth groups–break dancers, soccer fans, heavy metal fans, new wave, and so on. I’m none of these.

We’re just lads from Liubertsy.

The Liubers began going from punch-ups in and around Moscow some ten to fifteen years ago. That’s what the fathers of some of my pals say.

We still go. But we don’t beat up just anyone, as some people say, only those who we don’t like. How would you like to see them all with their chains, all studded up and painted? They bring shame on our country! Ask any punk or heavy metal fan and they’ll say their appearance and behavior are a protest. Against whom? Everyone …

Yes, I know, you’ll say we’ve got our basements too. But we don’t idle our time away there, we do sports: boxing, weight training, body building. That gives us power, fitness, self-confidence. That’s what you need these days.

We stick together. That’s why we’re so well known and so feared. Others don’t stick together like us.

We travel beyond Moscow, to Podolsk or Nakhabino, all because those soccer fans and heavy metal scum insult our buddies; many of them don’t even know what they are fans of. Me and my friends from Liubertsy are sick to death of their chains and badges.

I’ve mentioned already that people are scared of us. I don’t mean to say we Liubers want to scare everyone. Why should ordinary kids fear us? And if my letter gets printed (which I doubt very much) let all those scum know we’ll track them down wherever they are–cinemas, cafes, discos, on the street. The Liubers will put the heat on them …

Sergei R,
Liubertsy

Comments are closed.