“An Orthodox country should be like Iran. Are you going to answer anyone? Do they accept you
"An Orthodox country should be like Iran" Leader " Christian State» Alexander Kalinin - about his organization and how evacuations throughout Russia are connected with Matilda
Meduza13:05, 14 September 2017
On September 13, the leader of the Christian State - Holy Russia organization, Alexander Kalinin, wrote a post on his VKontakte, in which he stated that "telephone terrorism", which resulted in the evacuation of schools, shopping centers and other institutions throughout Russia, is part of " public campaign" against the film by Alexei Uchitel "Matilda". Previously, Christian State activists were associated with other actions against Matilda; on their behalf, letters were sent to cinemas with threats of arson. Meduza Special Correspondent Daniil Turovsky spoke with Christian State leader Alexander Kalinin.
The organization "Christian State - Holy Russia" became known in early 2017, when threatening letters began to arrive on its behalf in cinemas across the country. Activists wrote that in the event of the release of "Matilda" "cinemas will start to burn." The organization is headed by Alexander Kalinin, a resident of Lipetsk, born in 1984; a link to his VKontakte account is posted on the official website of the organization in the "Contacts" section. In September, director Alexei Uchitel and State Duma deputies Irina Rodnina and Oksana Pushkina asked the FSB to check the organization for extremism; The teacher accused Natalya Poklonskaya of covering up a "terrorist organization". At the same time, back in February, Poklonskaya asked to check the organization for extremism and accused her of trying to discredit the Russian Orthodox Church. Then the Ministry of Internal Affairs refused to open a criminal case against the "Christian State"; however, in an interview with Open Russia, Kalinin stated that criminal cases were still opened against him and his “brothers”. The teacher connected the Christian State with an incident in Yekaterinburg, where a man rammed a cinema building and set fire to it. The organization itself stated that it was not connected with this incident. On September 13, the largest chain of cinemas in Russia, Cinema Park and Formula Kino, turned to the police because of threats from Christian State activists. Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the activists "anonymous extremists."
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- What is a "Christian state"? When did it appear and why?
Appeared in 2010. The task was to consolidate the Orthodox society in order to be able to communicate and intersect on spiritual issues. I was supported by monasteries, temples, churches. I managed to unite a sufficient number of believers. We were united not by the goal of fighting someone, but by the goal of supporting each other in the regions. So that they know - if someone goes somewhere, then everyone knows that there are brothers in Vladivostok and Sochi. We have created a fraternal network. We did not have the task of fighting any "Matildas" or schizophrenics. When this film appeared, it turned out that we had to join forces in the fight against this evil. By this time there were already about 350 of us. active people with families. To date, 4,000 people have registered on the site.
I just went to your site, there is a DNS error. What happened?
The site was attacked by hackers last night. They destroyed the whole platform, they tossed everything. This is not Roskomnadzor.
Your name "Christian State" is a direct reference to the terrorist "Islamic State". When did you come up with it?
In 2013. We then looked at this entire Islamic world, quite bloody. They wanted to show that here is a Russian Christian state and that terrorists and scoundrels do not need to climb here. If you come to a Christian state, you will receive an even tougher rebuff. The Orthodox world will not sit idly by.
Yesterday you posted a post in which you say you know that phone threats all over Russia are related to Matilda.
On September 10, we received an anonymous letter. It said that there are guys who are ready to show all these film distributors that there are methods of struggle that are much more effective than arson and so on. What can you call. The letter stated that it was possible to destabilize the entire infrastructure of Russia. What followed was very interesting. The first calls went specifically to cinemas (judging by the news, the first reports of evacuations came from schools and enterprises - approx. Meduza). Apparently, this is some kind of program. And all phones of schools, shopping centers were hammered into the program. But we ourselves have nothing to do with it. (Alexander Kalinin, on his VKontakte page, posts daily news about people being evacuated from cinemas and shopping malls - Meduza's note)
Who are these people - "guys ready to show film distributors"?
These are supporters of the fight against recklessness and immorality. They may go to extreme lengths. And there will be more problems. They would have revoked the license from Matilda, since the people are against it. Is it so difficult? Now, when we know that a movie theater may arrive, I call or one of the brothers calls. We convey the position of believers.
Who set fire to the cars near Dobrynin's office? (On September 11, 2017, two cars were set on fire near the office of Alexei Uchitel’s lawyer Konstantin Dobrynin and leaflets “Burn for Matilda” were scattered around – Meduza’s note)
Set on fire by disgruntled people. Yes, it's all the little things in life. Only two cars were set on fire. You could burn a lot more. And burn much more. I have about 900 letters in VK alone. People are really unhappy. The Lord gave me a mission to relay the position of society, I myself will not go to throw a Molotov cocktail. I would like to somehow inform everyone that all cinemas and regional departments of the Ministry of Culture are in great danger. Individuals threaten individual cinemas. All this will be backed up by deeds, if there is no official refusal of cinemas from this crappy film.
While Poklonskaya tells everyone about some lawsuits of the relatives of the holy king and tries to ban the film, her supporters ...
People are ready to burn anything. Anything that contributes to this blasphemy. And they will not talk about murder - but about the deprivation of life for their faith.
What's wrong with the movie?
The film is a piece of history. It's about a holy man. It doesn't really matter which saint it is. There is a saint - he is one of the facets of the diamond of our church. Enough spit at least it's the lead actor. (Nikolai Romanov in "Matilda" is played by the German Lars Eidinger - approx. "Medusa".)
Have you watched the movie?
Yes. In Vladivostok, this film was shot for me from two angles. If you want, they can send it to you. I can cut you ugly pieces. There is nothing good in the movie.
You wrote on VKontakte two weeks ago: “If Matilda is not banned, then the current provocations will seem like just prank.” What did you mean?
I communicate with people, we do not just send warning letters to cinemas. We know what the Orthodox community is thinking about now. Some people are ready to take even tougher actions.
It can get even scary. We have examples of great saints who were impaled for blasphemy and sacrilege. We still have militant Christianity - Orthodoxy. When people see this blasphemous insanity, they arm themselves with the examples of the saints. Someone is arming himself with prayerful examples of Seraphim of Sarov, others - with the example of warriors. They think they can impale the Teacher. A person who sees how inflexible the Teacher is can put him on a stake. People are driven by their Orthodox faith. The person who does this will be right in his heart. He will go to prison for the Teacher - but he will be happy that he saved Russia from blasphemy. We do not want this, we warn about it. But there are people who will wait for the Teacher, guard at the entrance, live next to him from morning to evening, who will find him and break his legs. Or even worse.
We want our "wall" to displace these two inflexible people - the Teacher and Medinsky. Medinsky is insane. He talks about the cultural policy of our country, and we show porn on television. Everywhere dirt and immorality. Was there so much dirt on the screen in the Soviet Union? Even believers remember Soviet Union reverently.
If you dream, how do you generally see an ideal society in Russia?
There must be a society without that which is alien to the heart of man. If mats are alien, they should be banned. Alien joke immoral - to ban. Incivility and immorality should be criminally prohibited.
Criminal liability for lack of culture and immorality - who can determine this?
Now there are many institutions that determine all sorts of rubbish. That would be taken and determined. This is something that offends the feelings of another person. All people should be happy.
It's impossible.
Maybe. Possibly in Iran. No one swears, no one drinks beer on the street. Because they are punished by cutting off their hands. (The use of alcohol in Iran is criminalized in the form of imprisonment and lashes; a hand or finger can be chopped off for theft - note by Meduza.)
Iran is now a totalitarian religious state. Do you want a totalitarian Orthodox state?
An Orthodox country should be just like that. We would like Ivan the Terrible.
Are you sure that you will achieve that the film will not be released?
Undoubtedly. And if it comes out, then I assure you that every day it will be like this: they will show a film in a cinema, tomorrow it will burn down; show the film in another cinema - and it will burn.
Who will burn? Who are these people? How to characterize them?
These are [Orthodox] believers.
Daniel Turovsky
Meduza thanks Timur Olevsky for his help in preparing the material
Name: Alexander Kalinin
Age: 35 years
Activity: leader of the unrecognized religious entity "Christian State - Holy Russia"
Family status: married
Alexander Kalinin: biography
In 2016-2017, the organization "Christian State - Holy Russia" and its leader Alexander Kalinin registered in the top news. Orthodox radicals, led by Kalinin, declared a "holy war" against the film drama "", increasing the number of "KhGSR" at times. They talk and argue about them. They have opponents and supporters. Followers are ready to take decisive action outside the law, which they demonstrated in September 2017.
Childhood and youth
There is no official information about the leader of the Christian State - Holy Russia organization. Several "biographies" of Alexander Kalinin "walk" on the Internet. According to information from social networks, Alexander Vladimirovich Kalinin was born on February 25, 1984 in Lipetsk (according to the Lipetsk media - in the satellite town of Gryazi), but soon moved to Norilsk with his parents. Nothing is known about Kalinin's family and parents.
The veil of secrecy over the person of Alexander Kalinin was lifted by the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper. Kalinin's youth passed in the region of Norilsk - Talnakh. After graduation, the guy went to work - the family barely made ends meet. Alexander worked as a carpenter, did apartment renovations as part of construction teams. But the guy did not show much zeal - he could not appear at the facility for a week, so he wandered from one brigade to another.
The idea of making false documents came to the mind of an enterprising young man when he forged his sick leave so as not to be fired from his job. According to Lyudmila Ushakova, an assistant to the chairman of the Norilsk City Court, the guy opened a “business” at home, making fakes on a stationary computer. On fake sick leave, people were released from work and received payments.
When the scam surfaced, 20-year-old Kalinin was charged under article 327 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Forgery, production, sale of documents”. In January 2003, Alexander was sentenced to two years in prison, which was replaced with a suspended sentence. The guy repented, but the judges and law enforcement officers did not know that Alexander Kalinin had a more serious crime on his conscience - murder.
Murder
In May of the same year, Kalinin was again in the dock. He and two accomplices, drug addicts were accused of robbery and murder of a woman, a neighbor of Alexander. In the summer of 2002, the guy let his friends know that he was visiting with his mother a neighbor who runs a company.
The woman did not open the door to strangers, but when she saw Alexander Kalinin on the threshold, she let the killers into the apartment. The attackers robbed the woman and then strangled her so as not to leave any witnesses. The money was divided among three. At home, 19-year-old Kalinin explained to his parents the origin of the 25 thousand rubles in advance for the future renovation of the apartment.
The killers came out thanks to Alexander, who let slip about the crime. According to Lyudmila Ushakova, the guy did not admit his guilt at the trial: he confessed to complicity in the robbery, but not in the murder. Accomplices insisted that the three of them killed. They went to prison for 12.5 years, Alexander Kalinin was given 8.5.
The judges considered Kalinin's confession to be true, and the guy's appearance (unlike the drug addicts-accomplices) turned out to be decent. Alexander's mother asked the court for leniency, talking about her son's passion for religious literature.
After being released from a strict regime colony, Alexander Kalinin left Norilsk and went to the Lipetsk region, where he went into business. In an interview with MK on September 17, 2017, Kalinin said that firms were registered to him, and he received a higher legal education in Norilsk, but “at the moment he sold everything and left.”
Religious activities
Fame came to Alexander Kalinin after the appearance on the Internet of his story about the "invasion of the devil" and how he "saw a new path." The blog posts and videos appeared in 2011, but they were preceded by the events of 2010.
In a blog, Kalinin said that in 2010, when he was 27 years old, he rested with his bride Marina on the shores of the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov, in Ukraine. In the village, the couple met a woman who earned money by painting henna on her body. The artist drew a lizard on Marina's shoulder blade, but ruined the drawing. On the demand to fix the work, or she will not receive money, the woman cursed Alexander Kalinin, calling him a thief and promising death within two days.
According to Kalinin, after 2 days, "the devil moved into him." The young man watched from a distance as the unclean man who had taken possession of his bodily shell smashed furniture, cut his hands and smashed windows. When the bloody Kalinin ran to the sea, he was tied up and hospitalized, but they did not get rid of the “devil” in the hospital ward. So Alexander went to an exorcist priest. After the "demon" was cast out, he "saw a new path", feeling like an Orthodox Christian.
In 2013 (according to other sources - 2010), at the initiative of Alexander Kalinin, who "beheld the truth", the "Christian State - Holy Russia" appeared. According to him, the task of the association is to consolidate the Orthodox society "for communication on spiritual issues" and "support each other in the regions."
The KhGSR leader claims that the association did not set the task of “fighting any Matildas”, but “when this filmmaker appeared”, fellow believers and followers of the “Christian State” had to fight “with this evil”. According to Kalinin, at the time of the release of the director’s picture, there were “350 active people with families” next to Alexander, the number of which increased to 5 thousand by mid-2017.
Threatening letters flew to the cinemas of Russian cities that rented Matilda. "Orthodox" activists reported that if the film was shown, cinemas would start burning. A link to Alexander Kalinin's VKontakte account appeared on the KhGSR official website (not working now).
In September 2017, Aleksey Uchitel and State Duma deputies turned to the Russian FSB with a request to check KhGSR and its leader for extremism. Earlier, she asked for this, accused by the Teacher of covering up terrorists.
In mid-September, two networks of Russian film distributors complained to the police about threats from Christian State supporters. , the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation, called the activists anonymous extremists, because the organization, which called itself "Christian State - Holy Russia", is not registered with the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation.
The fact that the threats are dangerous, it became known in early September. Cinemas caught fire in Yaroslavl, Bryansk and Yekaterinburg. On September 11, two cars burned down near the office of the director's lawyer, Konstantin Dobrynin. According to unconfirmed reports, the burned-out Mercedes belonged to a lawyer.
Personal life
Alexander Kalinin is married and has a daughter. According to the “priest” of the unrecognized religious formation “KhGSR”, the birth of a child prompted him to create a society.
The leader of the "Christian State" will not let the girl go to kindergarten or school, because there the child "turns from clean into dirty." Alexander Kalinin intends to demand from officials to organize educational institution for the offspring of the followers of the movement, if two dozen families with children gather.
Alexander Kalinin now
Alexander Kalinin and three of his supporters were arrested on September 20, 2017. In the police, the leader of the Christian State explained that the messages to cinemas from KhGSR were not threats, but a fear and a warning to distributors that outraged believers would commit a crime.
Kalinin pointed out that "the Lord gave him a mission to relay the position of society," but he himself would not go "to throw a Molotov cocktail." The detained Alexander Kalinin was released after a conversation the day after his arrest.
The founder of "KhGSR" is sometimes confused with the full namesake - the president of the All-Russian public organization of small and medium-sized businesses "Support of Russia". The two Kalinins have a common name and surname.
Several people, including the leader of the organization "Christian State - Holy Russia" Alexander Kalinin, were detained and taken to the police as part of a criminal case on arson of cars near the office of the lawyer of the director of the film "Matilda" Alexei Uchitel Konstantin Dobrynin.
"Three people were detained on suspicion of arson - one in Moscow, two in the Lipetsk region," an Interfax source in law enforcement said.
According to the interlocutor of the agency, a native of Transnistria is suspected of organizing the crime. The procedural status of Kalinin has not yet been determined, he continues to be questioned. The source of "Gazeta.ru" believes that the public figure was detained in connection with his calls to burn cinemas.
— Konstantin Dobrynin (@k_dobrinin) September 20, 2017
"As part of the investigation of the criminal case, in the course of operational search activities, employees of the Center for Combating Extremism, together with the Criminal Investigation Department of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for Moscow, identified three persons suspected of committing this crime. One of the suspects was detained on the territory of Moscow, and two others - on the territory of the Lipetsk region," the official representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, Irina Volk, confirmed to TASS.
She specified that "one of the suspects was detained on the territory of Moscow, and the other two - on the territory of the Lipetsk region." According to her, searches were carried out in the places of residence of the detainees, during which items of importance for the investigation of the criminal case were seized.
"Kalinin was detained in the Lipetsk region, the issue of initiating a criminal case against him under the article on inciting discord or enmity is being considered," Interfax's source in law enforcement added.
A law enforcement source told RIA Novosti that the detainees are suspected of involvement not only in arson, but also in "mining" the shopping center. “Currently, the detainees are giving confessions. Their involvement in the “arson of two cars near the office of a company that provides legal assistance to the director of the film “Matilda” Alexei Uchitel has been established. In addition, the detainees made a call about "mining" the Cheryomushki shopping center in Vladivostok," the source said.
According to him, members of the organization were detained on Tuesday evening in Moscow and on Wednesday morning in the town of Gryazi, Lipetsk region. The suspects lived on forged documents. During the searches, extremist literature, leaflets "Burn for Matilda", containers with a combustible mixture were confiscated from them.
Poklonskaya hastened to take credit for the fight against extremism
State Duma deputy Natalya Poklonskaya, who is leading a targeted fight against the film "Matilda", said in a commentary to RBC that Kalinin was detained at her deputy request. “Just in response to my deputy’s request addressed to the Minister of Internal Affairs and the Prosecutor General to take criminal procedural measures against persons radicalized with signs of extremism (including on the fact of distribution of leaflets about arson, threats, etc.), decisions were made, the assessment of which authorized to give a supervisory authority," she said.
Poklonskaya made it clear that she considers it necessary to strengthen law enforcement measures against "any manifestations of extremism," and stressed that she "condemned and condemns" any manifestation of violence. "The absolutely legal situation with the film "Matilda" is being used by someone for purposes that have nothing to do with protecting our history and faith. The manifestation of extremism in this matter is part of a certain plan aimed at destabilizing society, dividing people, discrediting Orthodox believers" she added.
Konstantin Dobrynin, in a conversation with RBC, called Poklonskaya's statement about her role in the detention of suspects "the funniest news of today."
The lawyer noted that the people's choice "simply should be modestly silent," because, in his opinion, first of all, for the detention of Kalinin, "we should thank our colleagues from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB, who finally reacted to our latest statements." Dobrynin also noted the role of the deputies Irina Rodnina and Oksana Pushkina, as well as Senator Andrey Klishas, who really made official requests and "forced the state machine to start working."
The lawyer advised Poklonskaya to "think about her behavior" and "stop dividing society and causing confusion."
Earlier, lawyer Konstantin Dobrynin repeatedly applied to Federal Service security in connection with incoming threats from the Christian State - Holy Russia movement, which systematically opposes the showing of Matilda. So, Alexander Kalinin spoke about the existence of people who want to "break the legs" of the director of the film, "put him on a stake", and also oust Vladimir Medinsky, who defends the film, from the post of Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation.
The head of Orthodox fanatics himself emphasized that he did not threaten anyone, but only warned of the existence of "dissatisfied people." Kalinin boasted of the fact that the Ministry of Internal Affairs refused to open criminal cases 47 times because of letters sent by members of the organization to cinemas.
Uchitel's lawyer has already applied to the FSB with a request to check whether the opponent of Matilda, State Duma deputy Natalya Poklonskaya, supports extremists in order to change the constitutional order. State Duma deputies Irina Rodnina and Oksana Pushkina September 13 sent requests to the FSB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation to check the opponents of the film "Matilda" from the HG / SR and "Forty Forties" for extremism.
On September 4, Uchitel accused Poklonskaya of supporting "terrorist organizations" because of the arson of a cinema in Yekaterinburg, which, as some media reported, the attacker allegedly committed as a protest against the film "Matilda". And on September 11, unknown people set fire to several cars near Dobrynin's Moscow office, leaving a note "Burn for Matilda."
As a result of threats that come to cinemas, distributors refuse to show the film, in particular, the organizers of the sixth Trans-Baikal Film Festival did so. Cinemas in Kamchatka, Krasnoyarsk and Nizhny Novgorod. "Matilda" was not brought to the film festival in Chita out of fear for local cinemas.
That several people, including the leader of the Christian State, were brought to the police as part of a criminal investigation into the arson of cars parked near the office of Konstantin Dobrynin, Alexei Uchitel's lawyer. The interlocutor of the agency specified that one person was detained in Moscow, and two more in the Lipetsk region.
In addition, Kalinin is being questioned as part of the case. "His procedural status has not yet been determined," Interfax's interlocutor said.
Later, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs confirmed to TASS that three suspects of setting fire to cars had been detained at the office of lawyer Dobrynin. The official representative of the department, Irina Volk, in particular, said that one of the suspects was detained in the capital, and two others in the Lipetsk region, and that searches were carried out at the place of residence of the detainees.
On September 11, lawyer Konstantin Dobrynin reported that unidentified persons set fire to cars near the Pen&Paper office in Starokonyushenny Lane in Moscow, where he works. At the site of the arson, notes were found with the inscription: .
“If the FSB requests [the recording] of the interview, they will understand that Meduza lied. I gave an example that under Ivan the Terrible, such people would have had their legs broken 300 years ago and, perhaps, impaled. And they did an interview that I would impale him, ”said Kalinin.
"Christian State - Holy Russia"
The organization "Christian State - Holy Russia" has a website that is not yet available, and YouTube channel, which is signed by about 26 thousand people. The first video was published in August 2012. Among the videos there are many videos with answers to questions, for example, “is it possible for [Orthodox] to put on makeup and use cosmetics” or “is it possible to become obsessed through horror films.”
In connection with the activities of the "Christian State", the media often mention the head of the organization, Alexander Kalinin from Lipetsk, who calls himself "Christian Alexander", and Miron Kravchenko, who is called the press secretary, then the head of the central department.
The organization attracted attention in January 2017, when they called for the film of Alexei Uchitel not to be shown. “Any banner, poster, flyer with information about the rental of the film “Matilda” will be considered as your desire to humiliate the saints Orthodox Church and a provocation to the “Russian Maidan,” the letter said.
Soon Dmitry Peskov called such actions unacceptable. According to him, the organization "Christian State - Holy Russia" is not registered by the Ministry of Justice. “That is, in fact, we are talking about,” the presidential press secretary said then.
In February 2017, Kravchenko said that the "Christian State" includes about 300 people and there are those who are ready to join, "there are thousands of them." He noted that the organization is not connected with the deputy Poklonskaya: “We are not yet acting in conjunction, because everyone must advance along their own front. We indicate the intentions of the activists, it comes on the prosecutor’s part.”
Natalya Poklonskaya herself criticized the activities of the "Christian State": "The actions of this organization are aimed at discrediting the Orthodox and the Russian Orthodox Church."
On Wednesday morning it became known about the detention of the leader of the organization "Christian State - Holy Russia" Alexander Kalinin and several other people. According to Interfax, they are suspected of involvement in setting fire to cars near the office of the director's lawyer Alexei Uchitel. According to the source of the agency, the detentions took place in Moscow and the Lipetsk region. In total, three people were taken to the police. The interlocutor of the agency said that a native of Transnistria, whose name is not called, is suspected of committing a crime.
However, by the evening it turned out that Kalinin was interrogated as a witness, he is not a suspect and is not a detainee.
According to RIA Novosti sources, the detainees (or interrogated as witnesses) called the cinema in Vladivostok and reported that a bomb was allegedly planted there. In addition, the so-called "Orthodox activists" during the search found containers with a combustible mixture and leaflets "For Matilda - burn!" Earlier it was reported that the same leaflet was found in the possession of Alexander Kalinin, leader of the Christian State – Holy Russia movement.
Kalinin, in an interview with Meduza, linked reports of mining installations across Russia to protests against the screening of the film Matilda. He spoke about a letter from some "guys" who were ready to "show film distributors that there are methods of struggle that are much more effective than arson." In addition, Kalinin called the arson of cinemas and "deprivation of life for the faith" permissible. The leader of the "Christian State" also offered to break the director Alexei Uchitel's legs and put him on a stake.
Leader of the "Christian State" Alexander KalininThe first screening of Matilda in Russia was held at the Cheryomushki cinema in Vladivostok on September 11. According to a RIA Novosti source, it was to him that the call came from the detained "Orthodox activists."
MP Natalia Poklonskaya, which is campaigning against the film "Matilda", on Wednesday said that Kalinin was detained at her "deputy's request" to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. She told RBC that in this way she is fighting extremism, a manifestation of which she demands to recognize the very picture of the Teacher.
Alexey Uchitel's lawyer Konstantin Dobrynin, who contacted the FSB after cars were set on fire outside his office, in a conversation with Radio Liberty lamented that state bodies had been inactive for so long:
When it caught fire, then they began to react
- It's a shame that it took almost 9 months, although we warned about this back in February. But when it caught fire, then everyone began to react. As for qualifications, we do not know in which criminal case the suspects were detained, but we believe that in the framework of a case that was initiated on the fact of arson and intent to damage property. We believe that the criminal-legal qualification here should be different, because there is a terrorist act, and this is Article 205, believes lawyer Konstantin Dobrynin.
He hopes the move will make the radicals think about the consequences of their actions and perhaps stop the wave of hysteria and violence associated with the screening of the film "Matilda":
They must see that they do not determine the rules, they do not dictate to people how to live and what films to watch.
– Extremists, radicals and terrorists must see that it is not they who determine the rules, but the state, they do not dictate to people how to live and what films to watch, which cinemas to go to, but nevertheless this determines the state and citizens, determines a healthy civil society, the lawyer says. - I hope that there will be a very powerful signal, including for film distributors, who are justifiably afraid, in particular, Mr. Mamut, that the state will not be able to deter extremists. Now the state has shown that it can control the situation and manage the situation. I hope that in this sense everyone will begin to feel safe. This also applies to citizens, who can also feel safe and understand that they can watch films freely. As for the wave in general, I think that a signal has been given to Mrs. Poklonskaya as well. She needs to stop her further incorrect legal statements and actions, because that’s enough, it has gone too far, and any careless legal statements can give rise to consequences that are completely unimaginable for everyone, even if you didn’t want it,” believes lawyer Konstantin Dobrynin.
The All-Russian Public Orthodox Organization "Christian State - Holy Russia" is not officially registered. There is no exact information about the date of its occurrence, composition and structure. However, according to various information in the media, it is clear that it arose long before the conflict around the film "Matilda". The organization existed in the form of a kind of "Christian Brotherhood". Its leader was Alexander Kalinin, an Orthodox preacher under the pseudonym Christian Alexander.
Kalinin survived clinical death and made a video about it "Clinical Death", which brought him popularity. In it, Kalinin claims that at the time of death his soul went to hell, where he experienced all the torments that await unrepentant sinners, and then saw Jesus Christ himself. In the future, Kalinin began to regularly shoot videos on religious topics, where he called on people to repentance and the need to correct their lives in accordance with the commandments of God.
Subsequently, Kalinin and his admirers met and created a community. According to the leaders of the organization, KhGSR has a very extensive structure and its representatives, supporters and simply sympathetic people are in almost all regions of Russia. The KhGSR organization arose after Alexander Kalinin met Miron Kravchenko- Yesaul of the Cossack army, a public figure, in the past an active participant in various initiatives for spiritual and national revival. Together they developed a name and the basis of ideology, as a result of which the organization began to position itself as a "Spiritual-Political Order".
Miron Kravchenko is a man of interesting fate. Officially, his position sounds like "head of the organization for the Central region, Moscow and the Moscow region." Kravchenko came from among Russian nationalists: as the Pskovskaya Gubernia newspaper found out in early 2017, at the beginning of the 2000s he was a member of several Russian right-wing radical movements, including the Great Russia movement, organized the right-wing Russian March in Murmansk. In 2015, he took part in the creation of the "Anti-Putin Information Front", which set as its goal "to convey to the inhabitants of the Russian Federation and the peoples affected by the Putin regime, information that will expose the lies of the Kremlin."
The organization held several forums with the participation of Russian political emigrants and activists who fled Crimea and Donbass after the war, as well as a number of street actions in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities. One of her leaders Sergei Parkhomenko, connects Miron Kravchenko and the "Christian State" with the Russian special services, although he admits that Kravchenko himself was "ideological" - it's just that these "ideas" changed at a kaleidoscopic speed:
Miron Kravchenko was a political emigrant from Russia
– The Anti-Putin Information Front was created in 2015. As a matter of fact, Miron Kravchenko, at that moment a political emigrant from Russia, was also present at its founding conference. The task was to fight Russian propaganda, to come up with some interesting events that would be counter-propaganda. We launched our own propaganda against Russian propaganda, broke stereotypes and patterns in many of the issues on which Russian propaganda and Russian society's perception of reality is based.
- How and when did Miron Kravchenko appear on your horizon? You say that he was at the founding conference of the Anti-Putin Information Front, so you knew him before that?
He was completely on our side.
Yes, we met in the fall of 2014. We held a conference on Kuban "Kuban is Ukraine". We held a conference at the museum of Ukrainian propaganda in Troyeshchyna, in the Desnyansky district of Kyiv. We had a guest there, Miron, who was invited through acquaintances and who, in principle, supported these ideas in many ways. Then I talked with him for a while and invited him to a conference, which was held in August 2015. He supported the Maidan, he supported Ukraine in the war, he was against the annexation of Crimea and the war in Donbass, he dissuaded many of his acquaintances from going to fight in the so-called "DNR" and "LNR", for which we are grateful to him. He was completely on our side, against this whole Putin system and personally against Putin.
- What exactly were his claims to Putin and the Russian authorities?
He is a romantic, a revolutionary. He has, let's say, a different perception of the world. He did not accept the archaic model of Russian society, its "neo-Sovness". He considered the neo-Bolshevik essence of the Russian politicians and society to be the most vile. That is, there are, as it were, some national moments in it, but everything is based on Soviet myths, on the Soviet historical tradition, on the exploits of the Soviet people. And he did not perceive the Soviet Union and the Soviet period at all, because he considered himself a Christian fundamentalist more. He believed, and not unreasonably, that the Soviet authorities were atheists, he saw in Putin's Russia its non-Christian essence, which is covered by Orthodoxy, and so on.
- You knew at the time of the founding of your movement that Miron Kravchenko was a member of the Union of Orthodox Banner Bearers, this is such an organization of so-called Orthodox activists, a member of the nationalist party "Great Russia", that he organized the "Russian March" in Arkhangelsk, the so-called "Russian Club" in Ukraine?
- I know. And the Russian émigré club was an idea discussed, among other things, by other acquaintances of mine. This was necessary to break the pattern, to understand that Ukraine is fighting not against the Russians, not against the Russian nation, but against Russian imperialism as such. During the war, we were able to understand very well in time that the Russian nationalist is not only imperial. There are Russian nationalists who want to preserve the Russian nation within certain ethnic boundaries, that is, not on the entire territory. modern Russia, but on the territory of compact residence, where the Russian ethnic group originated, that is, more central regions, the Novgorod region in the north and a little bit to the south. That is, it was not imperial Russian nationalism. At least, he positioned himself this way: I am for the Russians, but against the empire, against taking territory from Ukraine, Ukrainians are our brothers, and we believe that Putin acted very vilely, calling publicly that Ukrainians are brothers, and took the territory. Who he was - there was no secret, and it was necessary for the struggle, because among Russian nationalists, work also had to be done to show that Putin was an enemy for Russians, as well as for Ukrainians, and for any nation that suffered from an aggressive imperial Russian politics. Any means in this war are good. If you need to work with Russian nationalists, there is nothing wrong with that. In addition, we found common ground on many issues, it was a common struggle for Ukrainians, for Russians and for other peoples of Russia to remove this regime. Because he destroys people - he simply blocks some, physically destroys others, throwing them into the meat grinder of the war in Syria and Ukraine.
– Did Kravchenko tell how he appeared in Ukraine? You say that he positioned himself as a refugee from Putin's Russia. He gave some details - how did he leave, was he pursued?
Kravchenko was against Putin
“I know he was being followed. I don't remember the details, I didn't go into too much detail. Naturally, he was checked, the special services were informed that he had arrived, was living, and his activities did not pose a threat to Ukraine, but, on the contrary, they posed a threat to Putin's Russia. Very many who participated in the "Russian Marches" were taken to the pencil of the special services, some they simply turned over, made agents, sent to fight in the Donbass or imprisoned if they were against Putin. Kravchenko was from the category that is against Putin, and he, not wanting to be a tool in the hands of the secret services and not wanting to go to jail, just left. His position on the Maidan, on the war, on the annexation of Crimea was our position, that is, the Ukrainian position, so it was important.
- Did he tell you what documents he lives in Ukraine, did he apply for asylum?
At some point, I learned that he embarked on the rails of Orthodox fundamentalism
- He tried to legalize, but, unfortunately, we have such a system that many emigrants from Russia during the war still do not have refugee status. This is a big problem. And he also did not legalize, he did not have a job, so he left for Belarus. For some time he was even in Russia, and then he mostly stayed on the territory of Belarus. After his departure from Ukraine, I spoke with him little and pointwise. And at some point I learned that he had embarked on the tracks of Orthodox fundamentalism, which, in fact, was simply a cover for the ideology of the "Russian world", that only under the Moscow omophorion could all Orthodox be united.
- At the time of his departure from Ukraine, did you and other members of the Front have any ideological disagreements with him?
- We did not have. It is clear that he was religiously biased, and we are a civil organization, we do not have a religious moment, and rightly so, because we had both Muslims and just people who belong to other religions or were not believers. We simply did not exacerbate this issue, we found a compromise.
– What could have happened to Miron, why did he change his position and now he is one of the leaders of the "Christian State", which sends out these letters in Russia?
He was always a believer, but due to radicalism he went to the extreme line
- He was always a believer, a Christian, but apparently, due to his age and radicalism, he simply went to the extreme line. This is the first. Secondly, maybe he was offended by the Ukrainian authorities, because they did not help him either legalize or find any work, they did not give him refugee status. And thirdly, he was simply ideologically processed by the adherents of the "Russian world", he was simply zombified. If earlier he said that the main threat is Islamic fundamentalism, which I agreed with him, and now he says that all this is a Jewish Masonic conspiracy, that is, these are views that are now unpopular, and it is clear that they have done work with him . It is obvious that the people who worked with him are clearly in the circle of contacts of the Russian special services, using people like him to achieve some of their goals, hiding behind the noble idea of \u200b\u200bdefending Christians, and are shaking the situation, including arranging internal Russian confrontations, against the backdrop of which the society is very united in order to come to the next presidential elections. It's all played out by the secret services and only they benefit.
– Do you think that the special services processed him when he was in Ukraine or even before he arrived in Ukraine?
Processing started in 2015.
- No, the processing began when he left in 2015, it began actively. I am sure that he is simply being used, his ideological idealism. I know what his views were when he was here, he had his own clear positions, but he was not processed, as he is now. I didn't know that he was a member of more radical Christian organizations, but I was frightened when he started asking: "Find out what nationality the President of Ukraine has. And what is the nationality of that one?" I say: “Everyone knows what nationality is. Why did you say this now? You didn’t know about it a year or two ago, when we started talking?” This suggests that something was clearly hammered into the head of a person, and he concentrated all his attention on those issues that he had not previously pointed out. This means that someone deliberately and systematically brought him to this moment. And only professional people can let you down, some units of the Russian FSB, for example. Most likely, the way it is. There are people in the special services who are engaged in psychological processing, and I think that he fell under their influence.
Did he often go to church?
Myron was used very skillfully
- I did not follow this, but he was a man of faith. It was evident that he had such a vision of the situation. But I did not follow his religious life. Due to many circumstances, Russian emigrants who supported Ukraine from the very beginning find it hard for them in Ukraine. And we do not have the opportunity, the financial resource, to systematically complete all the tasks that the information war requires. As a result, some people are offended and turn from allies into neutrals at best, and at worst they go over to the side of the enemy. If a person with an unstable psyche or with a not very clear position, he can always fall under the influence first. I think that Miron was used very skillfully and pushed in a certain direction, Sergey Parkhomenko believes.
Head of the Information and Analytical Center "Sova" Alexander Verkhovsky suggests that the highest ranks of the Russian Orthodox Church may be behind the creation of the "Christian state":
I don't think this group of comrades organized everything.
- I'm not even sure that this is an organization in the full sense of the word, - the expert believes. - I think it's just a certain group of people who, among other things, speak publicly on this topic. Because their leader somehow spoke very evasively on this topic - which he understands, but he himself did not seem to organize them. I think it will gradually become clear. Judging by the fact that everyone there is no longer young guys, they all have some kind of background in this area. One of them was in RONS, this is the Russian National Union, Miron Kravchenko, someone is connected with an Orthodox activist Ivan Otrakovsky, who at one time promised us that Orthodox squads would patrol here, which we never saw. In principle, I do not think that this group of comrades organized all this. I think that they just successfully act as speakers who are at least partly involved in material violent actions, but the violent actions themselves can be taken by people who are not connected with them at all. This movement against "Matilda" is clearly much broader than this group, and the radicalization of this movement is clearly taking place with some connivance of the church leaders, let's say so. It is difficult to say for sure who is personally behind this, but it is simply impossible to do without it, - Alexander Verkhovsky believes.
The statements of the leader of the "Christian state" Kalinin that his branches are in all Russian regions, seem to the expert a clear exaggeration. He is equally skeptical about the assumption that the "Christian State" is an FSB project:
- Of course, we can do everything, but I doubt it very much. I just don't understand why the FSB needs it. This is definitely some kind of church product, and if some security officials are involved in this, then still not at the level of entire departments, but in some more personal capacity. It's just that this movement is, in essence, just a very radical form in the implementation of the ideological policy that has been carried out from above for the past few years. Of course, the "Christian State" is far ahead of public policy, but there will always be people who will go far ahead. Maybe there are some people from the FSB among them, but it's hard for me to imagine that. Purpose is not clear. I have no doubt that Poklonskaya is not the only one in our country who holds such radical views, but for the whole department to embark on such a radical path ... I doubt that this is so, says Verkhovsky.