Aim. To study the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the perception of the present-day Russian state by young people. Methodology. Conclusions of the article are based on the results of an online survey we conducted among young people of Nizhny Novgorod, materials of the expert panel «Coronacrisis: social and political aspects of the pandemic», which the author participated in. The value theories of M. Rokich and Sh. Schwartz have become a methodological tool for systematizing and structuring empirical data. The article investigates the focus of perception of the modern state during a pandemic, the situational features of the young people’s perception of the state, identifies subjective risks, current problems projected onto the perception of the state, forms a matrix of demands and expectations of the studied social group. Results. The study showed the constancy, heterogeneity of the value picture of the world of youth, which is represented by vital, materialistic, ideological values. It also revealed an internal discrepancy between requests, expectations from the state and the ideas about the object under study that have developed as a result of practical activity, which have different connotations (emotional, evaluative) and labeling in the minds of young people. The preservation of a stable problem field, a critical background of perception, skepticism and mistrust in the youth environment, which is a serious challenge to the Russian government, is noted. Research implications. The new empirical material summarized in the article, the identified values, the needs of young people, made it possible to identify risks, contradictions in the perception of politics; to formulate practical recommendations and proposals aimed at improving the youth policy in the Russian Federation, the communication strategy of the current government.