Russia To Seize Assets Of International 'Satanists'

Russia's highest court has designated the "international Satanism movement" as extremist in July. (Representational)

Russia:

On Friday, Russia added the so-called "international Satanism movement" to a financial watchlist, enabling authorities to freeze assets of alleged adherents even without criminal convictions.

In recent years, Moscow has blacklisted several nebulous organizations as "terrorists and extremists," including the "international LGBT movement" and the "anti-Russian separatist movement."

Critics argue that since these groups remain vaguely defined under Russian legislation, prosecutors can arbitrarily label individuals as members, providing the government considerable latitude to target political opponents.

In July, Russia's Supreme Court classified the "international Satanism movement" as extremist after prosecutors alleged its members had desecrated Orthodox Christian churches and promoted "hatred."

Russia's prosecutor general stated in July: "The movement maintains close connections to manifestations of radical nationalism and neo-Nazism."

In January, Patriarch Kirill, the powerful leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, expressed support for the prohibition, claiming Satanists conduct malevolent "rituals" and target young people for recruitment.

"Consider this... Our soldiers are willing to sacrifice their lives for values clearly being desecrated by Satanists," he remarked during a Kremlin ceremony.

Rosfinmonitoring, the Russian federal agency responsible for maintaining the financial blacklist of "terrorists and extremists," incorporated the "international Satanism movement" to its registry on Friday, according to its website.

Satanism encompasses any ideology or religion that venerates Satan, a supernatural figure in Abrahamic faiths who personifies evil.

The number of Satanism practitioners globally or within Russia remains unknown.