Russian Supreme Court Bans International Satanist Movement as Extremist Threat to State Stability

On Wednesday, Russia’s Supreme Court prohibited the so-called «International Satanist Movement,» granting a request from state prosecutors to classify it as an «extremist» organization.

During the court proceedings, judges asserted that the group’s actions were intended to disrupt Russia’s constitutional foundations, promote violence, and incite religious hatred, as reported by the state-operated TASS news agency. The ruling is effective immediately.

This decision follows an April roundtable discussion in the lower house of the State Duma, which concentrated on addressing “Satanism” and other belief systems that officials argue threaten Russian national integrity.

During that meeting, lawmakers characterized Satanism as a “misanthropic ideology that justifies evil,” alleging that it aims to dismantle Russia’s traditional faiths as part of what they referred to as Western hybrid warfare. They drew parallels between this ideology, Nazism, and LGBTQ+ identities.

Earlier this month, the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office submitted its request to ban the organization. The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, publicly endorsed this designation.

While there are international Satanist groups — such as the Order of Nine Angles, which has been associated with far-right terrorism in the U.K. — the «International Satanist Movement» as identified by Russian authorities does not seem to exist.