While the article is interesting in describing a segment of the youth in the USSR during the 1970s to classify these youths as hippies seems to be a stretch. If being rebellious and listening to psychedelic rock classifies a person as a hippie then the hippie movement is alive and well. The article described a subset of youths that seem to show a rebellious spirit. They thumb their noses to the Communist Youth organization; they have issues with their parents and desire individuality. They want to listen to artist such as the Doors, Hendrix and the Beatles. The author portrays them as wanting to be part of the international hippie movement and at the same moment reflecting their Soviet indoctrination. Interestingly the government did not view this group of the same magnitude as western hippies or they would have quickly suppressed the movement.
In comparing this article to the World Festival of Youth and Students article it in some senses backs up the undertow of some Soviet youths even in 1957. The 1957 article highlighted how the Soviet youths wanted to go to parties and listen to western music. Some were punished for their behavior for displaying un-Soviet like conduct. Youths just started to spread their wings and taste freedom. This article to is less about the hippie movement and more about the continuation of the overall feelings that were starting to manifest themselves that eventually helped move the USSR to push for more empowerment and eventually freedom.
I think the fact that the Soviet government’s view of the group to not be on the same ‘level’ as the western hippies is rather telling of how hippie-like the Soviet youths really were, in comparison to the west. As you stated, it was not very much.
I slightly disagree with you both in that there was a hippie movement within the Soviet Union; however, it was as you say blatantly different than in the West. For their society it was not an accepted practice to be an individual. This must account for much of the differences between the two.