This time, it is not only the usual anti-cultist Alexander Novopashin. The Federal Guard Service (FSO) claims Ukraine and the West use psychics against Putin.
by Massimo Introvigne
The Federal Guard Service (FSO) is an elite Russian intelligence service, once called the Ninth Directorate of the KGB, whose task is protecting President Putin and other high-ranking officials.
As reported on January 3 by “Foreign Policy,” a secret FSO memo published by the Russian news outlet in exile “Insider,” and whose authenticity has not been disputed, details special measures to be adopted to protect Putin and other leaders during “wartime” (yes, it is called a time of war).
The memo claims that “the enemy,” i.e., Ukraine and the West, is mobilizing against Putin and the Russian leadership “religious (pseudo-religious) organizations” and “individuals possessing psychic abilities.” The memo also alleges that Ukrainian and Western intelligence services are in possession of mysterious “PSI generators,” i.e. machines capable of generating psyching waves to brainwash and control enemies, often mentioned in science fiction, pseudo-scientific books, and conspiracy theories.
Interestingly, the deputy director of the FSO, General Alexander Komov, is named as the person in charge of protecting Putin and his colleagues against these “psycho-weapons.” According to “Insider,” Komov is known for employing Russian psychics and astrologers to counter attacks he believes come from their Western counterparts.
The FSO memo also reflects the increasing influence on the secret services and institutions close to Kremlin of Russian anti-cultists.
The Russian ultra-nationalist and conservative Orthodox website Ruskline.ru interviews at the end of each year those it regards as distinguished personalities, asking them how they expect the next year to be.
Among the interviewees this year was Archpriest Alexander Novopashin, deputy director of the largest Russian anti-cult organization, who recently confirmed that despite his staunch support of the aggression against Ukraine he is still among the Russian representatives of the European anti-cult federation FECRIS.
Novopashin focused his comments and predictions for the coming year on the war in Ukraine “We are doing a good job,” he said. “I do not just support it, but I am convinced that this liberation battle was simply necessary. And maybe it should have been started much earlier.”
He confirmed his theory that a government that professes and practices the “cannibalistic Nazi ideology” has “enslaved the minds of the Ukrainians.” This is a reference to a previous interview by Novopashin, where he claimed that Ukrainians are taught to drink the blood of Russian babies and “are made cannibals.”
Novopashin also discussed the domestic situation in Russia after the war started. He attacked the music, art, and sport celebrities who criticized the war or moved abroad. “What was good in 2022? The country begins to distinguish between real and imaginary heroes, he answered. Everything is slowly falling into place. The people’s eyes are opening, the country is being cleansed of filth, which, alas, was on a pedestal. I hope that this will continue further. Everyone finally saw those pseudo-heroes who have no place on the Olympus of creativity and art, no place in our country. However, they themselves felt their presence in Russia inappropriate and went abroad.”
2022, Novopashin said, was “a difficult year, but at the same time, as a doctor would say, a surgical operation may be necessary to save a life. Similarly in a state, it is sometimes necessary to carry out surgical operations to save the state itself. In this case, either victory will mean life for Russia, or defeat will be the death of Russia.”
Ultimately, the Russian FECRIS representative believes Putin is fighting on behalf of God against “evil spirits” who dominate abroad and have infiltrated Russia as well. “We pray to God, Novopashin concluded, and strive to ensure that our Fatherland will triumph over the evil spirits that have spread throughout the world. And our society, alas, was seriously saturated with ideological and physical evil spirits. The task is to cleanse ourselves of evil spirits so that it becomes easier to breathe.”
Massimo Introvigne (born June 14, 1955 in Rome) is an Italian sociologist of religions. He is the founder and managing director of the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR), an international network of scholars who study new religious movements. Introvigne is the author of some 70 books and more than 100 articles in the field of sociology of religion. He was the main author of the Enciclopedia delle religioni in Italia (Encyclopedia of Religions in Italy). He is a member of the editorial board for the Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion and of the executive board of University of California Press’ Nova Religio. From January 5 to December 31, 2011, he has served as the “Representative on combating racism, xenophobia and discrimination, with a special focus on discrimination against Christians and members of other religions” of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). From 2012 to 2015 he served as chairperson of the Observatory of Religious Liberty, instituted by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in order to monitor problems of religious liberty on a worldwide scale.
