Russia bans fictional satanist group linked to Ukraine support
Russian court bans nonexistent International Satanist Movement (photo: Russian media)
The Supreme Court of Russia has declared the nonexistent International Satanist Movement an extremist organization and officially banned it. According to SOTAvision, the group was allegedly raising funds for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The case was brought to court by Russia's Prosecutor General's Office and the Ministry of Justice.
And was reviewed in two days by Judge Oleg Nefyodov, who had previously issued rulings banning the nonexistent International LGBT Public Movement in Russia and removing the Islamist movement Taliban from the list of terrorist organizations.
The expert evaluation for banning the movement was conducted by a group led by Russian religious scholar Roman Silantyev.
He claims that the number of Satanists in Russia is several tens of thousands. According to him, the reason for banning the movement was its support for Ukraine and fundraising for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
As reported by Current Time, in January of this year, Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church mentioned the International Satanist Movement for the first time and expressed support for the initiative to ban Satanism in Russia.
Participation in the activities of the movement, which has been recognized as extremist, as well as promoting its ideas, carries criminal liability.
In April, the Supreme Court of Russia suspended the ban on the activities of the Taliban movement in the country. It was removed from the list of terrorist organizations.
