Putin plots crackdown on 'satanists' as Russia bans 'extremist' group that doesn't exist

Russia's top court has outlawed the "international satanism movement" as an extremist and terror group, with members of the non-existent organisation facing up to eight years in jail. Senior MP Andrei Kartapolov, who leads the Russian parliament's defence committee, alleged without proof that satanism in the country was being funded by the West and posed a "direct threat to Russian statehood". The Kremlin's Supreme Court ruling on the fictitious movement is President Vladimir Putin's latest crackdown on ideological dissent in Russia and follows his description of the war in Ukraine as a holy fight against the "satanic" West.

A statement from the Prosecutor General's Office described the non-existent "satanist" group as one "based on extremist ideology, hatred and hostility toward traditional religious confessions". The movement was also accused of engaging in "destruction, damage and desecration" of Russian Orthodox churches.

Independent Russian-language news website Meduza noted that the Supreme Court previously "banned other fictitious movements" including the "international LGBT movement" and "used that designation to persecute LGBTQ+ individuals and censor artistic works".

Another pro-Kremlin Russian MP said the ban had been introduced in response to growing complaints from members of the public about "satanic sex orgies" in cities including Moscow, The Times reports.

The ruling, which is set to come into force next month, will be applied retrospectively, meaning people could be prosecuted for behaviour associated with "satanism" dating back an uncertain timeframe.

It has also sparked fears that Russian lovers of heavy metal and gothic music, which often include satanic or demonic imagery, could face jail time from the new measures.

"Will they put people in jail for T-shirts with pentagrams and goat heads?" human rights lawyer Ivan Pavlov said. "We won't risk saying for sure, but the practice of cases involving other fictitious 'extremists' can tell us a lot."

While the designation of the "international satanism movement" is just the latest addition to Russia's growing number of organisations banned under its 2002 extremism law, Putin removed the Taliban from the list in April amid attempts to form closer ties with the Afghanistan leaders - breaking from more than two decades of outlawing them as a terrorist movement.