The paper examines the specifics and distribution channels of political protest moods among Russian urban youth on the example of Ekaterinburg. Besides, the study focuses on the influence of the soft power of Russia and other countries on this process. The emphasis is made on the inactive soft power as more influential (than active soft power) in terms of the subject under consideration. The paper aims to identify potentially the most influential elements or sources of soft power and the channels of its impact on Russian youth, and the role of digital technologies in this process. The study uncovers the intensity and the primary forms of youth protest in Russia, their objective and subjective reasons, and the readiness of young people to protest. Also, the research sketches the potential for converting online protests to offline. Besides, I determined the most attractive countries for young people in terms of socio-economic and political characteristics (as elements and sources of soft power) and the reasons for such attractiveness. In addition, the study reveals the hierarchy of preferences of urban youth regarding digital channels of information consumption and sheds light on the role of personal communication. The study contains an empirical component, which was implemented using survey methods and expert interviews.