The “International Satanist Movement” has been recognised as “extremist”

The Supreme Court of Russia has recognised the “International Satanist Movement” as an “extremist organisation.” This was reported by “Mediazona.”

The decision was made behind closed doors, with neither members of the public nor journalists allowed to attend the session. The lawsuit was handled by Judge Oleg Nefyodov, who has previously overseen similar cases. It was also Nefyodov who recognised the “International LGBT Movement” as “extremist.”

The press service forbade photographing the judge, writes “Mediazona.” “No one is allowed to be filmed, only the state emblem,” court staff said.

“In the eternal struggle between good and evil, legal force has triumphed,” wrote the press service of the Prosecutor General’s Office. According to officials, “followers of a cult based on hatred and animosity towards traditional religious denominations” call for “the destruction of Orthodox Christian shrines, reject societal norms, justify neo-Nazi ideas, and commit ritual and other crimes.”

The lawsuit to ban the “movement” was filed by Russian Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov and the Ministry of Justice at the start of July.

In early April, the State Duma held a round table “for countering the spread of Satanism and other destructive cults and ideologies in Russia.”

Vyacheslav Leontyev, the head of the executive committee of the movement “Cultural Front of Russia,” noted that, following this working group, changes to laws on freedom of conscience and on trade were planned.

Andrey Kartapolov, chair of the State Duma Defence Committee, stated that: “Both Satanism and everything associated with it must be regarded as a direct threat to the state system: In the end, we recognised LGBT ideology as non-compliant and adopted laws that prevent its spread. Satanism is no better. It is worse, it is more aggressive, it is more misanthropic.”

In turn, Roman Silantyev, head of the Destructology Laboratory at Moscow State Linguistic University, noted that recognising the movement as an “extremist” organisation would “make it possible to target more dangerous movements in future, including Wahhabis and Marxists.”

Patriarch Kirill also supported recognising the “International Satanist Movement” as “extremist.” He said: “It is unacceptable that, to this day, various Satanic sects forming part of the international Satanist movement are able to freely conduct their rituals in our country, recruit young people, and openly register their groups and communities on social media. Consider this: In the area of the ‘special military operation,’ on the front lines, our soldiers are prepared to lay down their lives for values that are blatantly violated by Satanists!”

• There is no actual organisation called the “International Satanist Movement,” just as there are no such previously banned groups in Russia as the “International LGBT Movement,” the “Anti-Russian Separatist Movement,” the AUE movement, or “Columbine.”
• In December 2024, the Prosecutor General’s Office declared the American organisation The Satanic Temple an “undesirable organisation.” The agency accused it of promoting occult practices and supporting backers of extremist movements.