Orthodox state Holy Russia Kalinin. Non-traditional radicals

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.

RBC in the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Moscow said: "The reason for the detention was Kalinin's public calls to commit unlawful acts, in particular, Kalinin called for arson of cinemas, where Alexei Uchitel's film "Matilda" was announced for viewing. Allegedly, a computer and several media were confiscated from the leader of a public organization information.

The very case when water wears away a stone in the form of statements. Thanks to colleagues from the FSB, and from the Ministry of Internal Affairs too. It was high time https://t.co/tfRTwP0c4U

— 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 law enforcement source added.

RIA "Novosti" in law enforcement agencies reported that the detainees are suspected of involvement not only in arson, but also in the "mining" of 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 appealed to the Federal Security Service 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. Movie theaters in Kamchatka, Krasnoyarsk and Nizhny Novgorod decided to abandon the show. "Matilda" was not brought to the film festival in Chita out of fear for local cinemas.

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 city 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 an 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 the cinemas from the KhGSR were not threats, but a fear and a warning to the 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.

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 Kalinin

The 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 Kiev and other Ukrainian cities. One of her leaders Sergey 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 Kiev. 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 emigrant club - it was an idea that was discussed, among other things, by my other acquaintances. 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 of modern Russia, but on the territory of compact residence, where the Russian ethnos originated, that is, more central regions, the Novgorod region in the north and a little bit on 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 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 person’s head, 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.

The film was based on the novel of the heir to the Russian throne Nikolai Alexandrovich (future Emperor Nicholas II) and the ballerina of the Imperial Theater Matilda Kshesinskaya.

Historians confirm that the romantic relationship between the heir and the ballerina did take place (differences relate to the question of whether they were exclusively platonic), but they stopped after the wedding of Nikolai and Alexandra Feodorovna.

Points of criticism

Origins of the conflict

The first trailer for "Matilda" was released on April 7, 2016, but the public conflict began to take on visible proportions only in the fall of that year. According to Bishop Tikhon (Shevkunov), the reason for the protests against the film was the perception of its trailer as distorting historical truth. Even before State Duma deputy Natalia Poklonskaya was involved in the conflict, an online petition appeared on Change.org for the cancellation of the picture. Natalia Poklonskaya's request to the Prosecutor General's Office with a request to check the film "Matilda" for insulting the feelings of believers was sent on November 2, 2016. This was preceded by an appeal to her by representatives of the public movement "Royal Cross", who considered that they were dealing with "an anti-Russian and anti-religious provocation in the field of culture." Subsequently, Poklonskaya made a lot of efforts, trying to achieve.

Positions of the parties

Natalia Poklonskaya

State Duma deputy Natalya Poklonskaya claims that the film contains scenes that she believes offend the feelings of believers, and states the need to "not allow violation of anyone's rights", avoiding both restrictions on freedom of creativity and infringement on "constitutional rights citizens". At the same time, Poklonskaya made numerous attempts one way or another to achieve a ban on showing the picture.

executive power

In turn, the head of the Russian government Dmitry Medvedev, speaking in April 2017 at the forum “Culture is a National Priority”, warned against the manifestation of intolerance and aggression in the field of culture: “Sometimes it [aggression] comes down to the persecution of the author, whose work no one has yet saw. We need to be much more tolerant in this sense," Medvedev advised.

Leadership of individual republics

In August 2017, it became known that the head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, applied to the Ministry of Culture with a request not to show the film on the territory of the republic. A similar request was received from the authorities of Dagestan. However, after the film was issued a distribution certificate, Ramzan Kadyrov declared that the republic was not going to ban the film, because, according to him, in Chechnya "they will not waste time watching a film that is immoral, soulless and immoral in relation to their homeland" .

Church and church hierarchs

The official position of the ROC

In September 2017, Bishop Tikhon reaffirmed the earlier point of view: not demand a ban, but warn of untruth- as the official position of the Russian Orthodox Church.

… this is an absolutely dead end and wrong way. Not demands for bans, but a warning about truth and untruth - this is the goal that can and should be set in connection with the upcoming wide screening of the film. If the film lives up to the trailer, it will be enough just to talk widely about the real former story.

Not all church hierarchs agreed with this approach. So, in June 2017, Metropolitan Pavel of Khanty-Mansiysk and Surgut sent a letter to the clergy of the diocese under his jurisdiction, in which he blessed in June-July 2017 to collect signatures for a ban on the production and distribution of the film and ordered to submit information about their number by August 1, 2017. In a letter, the metropolitan stated that the film is "a deliberate anti-historical forgery aimed at discrediting, mocking and slandering, at forming a very definite false image of the Russian Emperor Nicholas II" .

In turn, Metropolitan Kliment of Kaluga in September 2017 expressed the opinion that the campaign directed (“with the best intentions”) to ban the film only fueled interest in it. He believes that "the best response of Orthodox people will be the creation of works of art dedicated to the Passion-Bearer Tsar - new books and films that reflect the Orthodox point of view."

Romanovs

Subsequently, in July 2017, the head of the Russian Imperial House, Maria Vladimirovna Romanova, also declared the futility of trying to ban this and similar films, while Alexander Zakatov stated that there was no historical authenticity. According to him, from the diaries of Nicholas II, his correspondence and other reliable sources, it is known that:

the romance of the young Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich and Matilda Feliksovna ended in 1894, when a decision was made to marry the heir to Princess Alice of Hesse, and Nicholas II never cheated on his wife.

Movement "Forty Forties"

Compromise options

As a compromise solution, a proposal was made to delay the release of the film for two years in order, firstly, to avoid a “high degree” of public confrontation in the current discussion and, secondly, to prevent the release of the film from coinciding with the centenary execution of the royal family.

The initial idea was expressed by Pavel Pozhigailo at a discussion in the State Duma at a meeting of an inter-factional deputy group for the defense of Christian values.

Calls for a ban

In January 2017, it became known that the public council under the Ministry of Culture of Russia received 20 thousand signatures demanding a ban on the film, a selective check of which confirmed the real existence of the signatories. The number of official appeals against the rental of the film in the name of Natalya Poklonskaya reached a similar value. In July 2017, Poklonskaya announced that the annex to the next parliamentary request against the film contains 100,000 appeals and signatures of citizens about insulting their feelings. In the autumn of the same year, the Tsar's Cross movement reported that 100,000 appeals against the film Matilda were handed over to Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.

Activities of Natalia Poklonskaya

At the end of 2016, after a request from Natalia Poklonskaya to the Prosecutor General's Office, the film materials were checked, which, according to Alexei Uchitel, did not reveal any violations. Almost immediately, the chairman of the State Duma Committee on Culture, film director Stanislav Govorukhin, criticized the idea of ​​checking the film, saying that such initiatives should be "interrupted in the bud." The Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation reported that the issue of issuing a distribution certificate to the film will be decided after the completion of work on the film.

In December 2016, it was reported that the prosecutor's office would request the film's script as part of an audit at the request of MP Poklonskaya.

In April 2017, the next commission, which Poklonskaya insisted on, after reviewing the text of the script and two trailers, saw in the film the imposition of a false image of St. Nicholas II on the viewer and an insult to the religious feelings of believers. At the same time, experts (I. V. Povkin, V. I. Slobodchikov, V. Yu. Troitsky and A. Yu. Evdokimov) established what exactly forms the negative image of Nicholas II. Alexei Uchitel said that he was "already tired of Mrs. Poklonskaya's war with him and the entire film crew." The results of the examination were sent to the Prosecutor General 's Office .

In addition, in September 2017, Natalya Poklonskaya announced that she had at her disposal documents indicating dubious financing schemes for the film by Alexei Uchitel. A little later, information was received according to which Poklonskaya stated that she was representing the interests of the Romanovs in court against a lawsuit to protect their honor and dignity against the director of the film "Matilda" Alexei Uchitel, and the lawsuit contains a requirement "to impose interim measures in the form of a ban on showing the film" . However, the lawsuit against the studio of director Alexei Uchitel was dismissed by the Oktyabrsky District Court of St. Petersburg due to procedural violations that must be eliminated before September 30.

At the end of September 2017, Natalya Poklonskaya announced the substitution of the script after the allocation of budget funding to the film in the amount of 280 million rubles. According to her, the original script, for which budget funds were allocated, was dedicated specifically to the ballerina: Nicholas II was not in it at all. She also produced a video recording that, according to her, exposes Aleksey Uchitel, and promised to hand it over to the Prosecutor General's Office and the FSB.

Movement "Forty Forties"

RIA Novosti reports that on September 18, 2017, according to the movement's own data, protest actions organized by it in the form of pickets, processions and prayers gathered about a thousand people in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Volgograd and other Russian cities. This was followed by an action on 8 October.

Prospects for a ban

In October 2017, Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky stated that there were no legal grounds for revoking the film's distribution certificate.

Threats

In January 2017, a previously unknown organization, Christian State - Holy Russia, sent letters to directors of cinemas demanding that the film be cancelled. The letter said:

If the film "Matilda" comes out, cinemas will burn, maybe even people will suffer. We officially inform you: any banner, poster, leaflet with information about the rental of the film will be considered as a desire to humiliate the saints of the Orthodox Church...

Responses and comments

The Russian Orthodox Church, represented by Vakhtang Kipshidze, almost immediately announced that the organization "Christian State - Holy Russia" had nothing to do with it.

A little later, in February 2017, more than forty leading Russian filmmakers responded to this threat with an open letter, in which they regarded the aforementioned message as a threat to potential film distributors and "calls for arson of cinemas and violent actions." The signatories believe that "the official Church does not give an assessment of what is happening", and the Ministry of Culture takes a wait-and-see attitude.

Aleksey Uchitel appealed to the Prosecutor General's Office with complaints about threats from extremists from an unregistered organization and about Poklonskaya, and Dmitry Peskov noted that threats "from anonymous extremists ... are absolutely unacceptable," like any violation of laws.

Natalya Poklonskaya, in turn, also noted the inadmissibility of extremist statements by "some unregistered organization".

Arson

With the film "Matilda" and the resulting confrontation, according to the persons involved and the media comments, there is an alleged connection with the arson of property that took place in various cities of the country.

Moscow

According to a statement to the press service of the Forty Sorokov movement, on August 26, 2017, at about 14:00, the car of Vladimir Nosov, the coordinator of the Forty Sorokov movement, was set on fire by unknown persons; on the fact of arson, Nosov filed a complaint with law enforcement agencies. Nosov linked the incident to the movement's participation in protests against the film and a number of events planned by the movement, while movement leader Andrei Kormukhin said that members of the movement had received threats before.

Saint Petersburg

On the night of August 31, 2017, three Molotov cocktails were thrown into the windows of the building of the Lendok film studio in St. Petersburg, where the Teacher's Rock studio is located. The fire was quickly extinguished, as the windows on the inside were bricked up and the fire could not spread inside the building. The teacher noted that the attack took place on his and Matilda Kshesinskaya's birthday and said that threats "come all the time: both at the studio and at cinemas."

Yekaterinburg

On the morning of September 4, the entrance group of the Kosmos cinema in the center of Yekaterinburg was rammed by a UAZ car loaded with gas cylinders and barrels of gasoline, after which a fire broke out with an area of ​​30 m 2. As it was established by the investigation, Denis Murashov, a 38-year-old resident of the city of Irbit, Sverdlovsk region, was driving the car, and the cause of the fire was the Molotov cocktail, which the driver threw into the room after he rammed the doors of Cosmos. At the same time, Murashov received serious burns to his hands. The arsonist fled the scene of the crime, but on the same day he was detained by law enforcement officers when seeking medical help. According to Murashov himself, the reason for the attack on the Cosmos CCC was the premiere of the film Matilda, which was being prepared there. Two weeks before the attack, he stated in an interview that in Russia "the monarchical spirit is rising - the veneration of the royal family" and that, along with other monarchists, he is united by the fight against the "common evil" - the Teacher and his film, which should not be shown in Russia, and "penguins in Antarctica". A criminal case was initiated under the article "intentional damage to property committed by arson." On December 18, 2017, by decision of the Zheleznodorozhny District Court of Yekaterinburg, Denis Murashov was declared insane and sent for compulsory mental treatment. The administration of Yekaterinburg, which owns the Kosmos cinema, estimated the damage at 19.3 million rubles, but the court refused to recover this amount from Murashov due to his insanity and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation from the State Duma deputies Irina Rodnina and Oksana Pushkina: they asked check for extremism organizations "Christian State" and "Forty Forties". The deputies believe that the organization "Christian State - Holy Russia" in its interviews and publications openly threatens not only ordinary citizens of Russia and dissenting artists, but also the leaders of the state.

The fact that the Forty Sorokov movement is ready for inspections and is set up for full cooperation with law enforcement agencies, its leader Andrey Kormukhin told the Znak.com portal, emphasizing that the movement has repeatedly condemned extremist actions in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg.

At the same time, according to the same portal, activists of the Forty Forties movement compared members of the Christian State - Holy Russia organization with saboteurs, as they threaten to set cinemas on fire, while "millions of Orthodox people" who oppose the film "act exclusively in a peaceful legal course”: their means include pickets, prayers and religious processions, collection of signatures, lawsuits and arguments in public space.

Detentions

On September 20, 2017, it became known that, as part of a criminal case on car arson, several people were detained near the law office, including the leader of the Christian State - Holy Russia organization Alexander Kalinin. Two detainees (including the brother of the leader of the organization) confessed to arson and were taken into custody by a court decision - initially until November 11.

On March 29, 2018, the Khamovnichesky Court of Moscow sentenced Yuri Kalinin (brother of the leader of the "Christian State" Alexander Kalinin) and two of his accomplices to two years in a penal colony for arson of cars, which indicates that in August 2017 more than 62 thousand people wanted to know about him , and a year earlier - only 9 thousand people. The popularity of requests related to the film "Matilda" has grown unprecedentedly (tens of times) and amounted to 343 thousand people; for the first time, the popularity of these requests jumped in November 2016 and coincided with the appeal of Natalia Poklonskaya to the Prosecutor General's Office.

Low box office

At the same time, the film showed low box office, which film critic Sergei Sholokhov explained by the refusal of federal channels to show advertising and by the fact that the scandal around the film created an "unpleasant information field":

"Matilda's Lie"

In July 2017, it became known that documentary filmmaker Sergei Aliev intends to make a documentary film "Matilda's Lie", which is designed to "debunk the myths" around the personality of Nicholas II. The film should include seven stories dedicated to one topic or another: Nikolai's relationship with Kshesinskaya, his alleged weakness of character, the degree of validity of his nickname "Bloody", abdication and others. It was planned to attract several historians, including Pyotr Multatuli in October 2017, changing the name: now it is called the "Slandered Sovereign". The duration of the tape is 45 minutes, they took part in it.

Alexander Kalinin, representative of the Christian State - Holy Russia movement. Youtube screenshot

Alexander Kalinin, 33-year-old leader of the Christian State-Holy Russia (KhGSR) movement, openly declares on social networks today: calls with messages about the "mining" of cinemas in the regions of Russia are a demonstration of the capabilities of his supporters - Orthodox activists, outraged by the upcoming screening of the Teacher's film "Matilda". Actually, there will be no show, Kalinin is convinced: the distributors will not risk the lives of the audience and will voluntarily refuse shows.

Indeed, the largest Moscow cinema networks had announced a few days earlier that they would not show the film because of the threats they were receiving.

Meanwhile, Kalinin talks in an interview with the media about the fanaticism and the large number of his supporters: like martyrs, they are ready to give their lives to prevent the “blasphemers” from culture. “Every day will be like this: a film will be shown in a cinema, tomorrow it will burn down. They will show the film in another one and it will burn down, ”Kalinin speaks. On the youtube channel "HGSR" posted video of the arson of the Yekaterinburg cinema an Orthodox activist who spoke out against "Matilda" (with a note: "Think about it, blasphemers!"). There are also the consequences of the recent arson of two cars near the office of the Teacher's lawyer Konstantin Dobrynin.

Why do activists of the “Christian State – Holy Russia” movement and its leader feel impunity by publishing open threats on the Internet and broadcasting them in interviews? Novaya Gazeta tells what is known about the movement, its goals and methods.

To like in Iran

According to Kalinin, the "Christian State" emerged in 2010 as a "fraternal network" of believers, which did not set itself the task of "fighting any" Matildas "or schizophrenics, but was going to give a fanatical rebuff to no less fanatical Islamic terrorism.

At the same time, the ideal social structure of Russia, which the activists of the movement preach, most of all resembles just the totalitarian societies of the Islamic countries of the Middle East. And the very name of the organization directly refers to the "Islamic State" banned in Russia. Russia, as “Orthodox Iran,” is a society in which criminal liability has been introduced “for incivility and immorality,” as well as swearing and insulting feelings are prohibited, Kalinin reflects in an interview with Meduza.

The news of the filming of a film discrediting the memory of the last Russian emperor, recognized by the Russian Orthodox Church as a "passion-bearer", forced the "fraternal network" to switch to a new enemy - "blasphemers". According to Kalinin, 4,000 people applied to join the organization during the Matilda scandal, and each of them "wants to prove himself in the right way." The total number of participants in the movement, judging by its website, is 4713.

Kalinin denies direct involvement in the arson of the Matilda cinemas: the video was allegedly sent to him by the “brothers”, and the Lord personally entrusted the man with the mission of “retransmitting” the position of society. Kalinin calls the burning of cars "little things in life", and assures that the unnamed brothers could burn "much more", although he rejects the organization's involvement in this.

Kalinin has already seen the film "Matilda" - in the form of a screen copy, filmed by pirates during a pre-screening in Vladivostok. “There is nothing good” in the film, the activist reviews the film. “A spit in the soul of an Orthodox person” was already the choice for the lead role of Lars Eidinger, who starred naked in Peter Greenaway's film “Goltzius and the Pelican Company”.

Orthodoxy is not only kisses

The Christian State website, according to Kalinin, was hacked just before the Meduza interview and is now unavailable. "They ( hackers. — Ed.) destroyed the entire platform, ripped everything up,” he complains. However, a copy of the resource is stored in the Google cache.

Internet representation of the "Christian State" greets visitors with the inscription "Remember death" and a splash screen with falling snow.

The main page of the "HGSR" site, saved in the cache of Google

On the site you can order online prayers for the repose and for health, as well as "be h paid" handmade icon. (It is widely believed among Orthodox fundamentalists that the prefix "demon" was artificially introduced by Lenin and Lunacharsky during the orthographic reform in order to force the Russian people to glorify Satan in writing).

In the "Contacts" section, the address "Mr. Moscow, st. B. Polyanka, 30”, skype, mobile and landline phone numbers.

On the site of "Holy Russia" you can also get acquainted with the "Appeal to the Honored Artist of Russia Alexei Uchitel" (in fact, in 2002 the Teacher was awarded the title of "people's" and not "honored" artist). The director is urged to "repent and turn to the Lord."

The site has a section "Regional organizations \ Charter \ Goals", but it is impossible to get acquainted with it without entering a password.

Kalinin himself has profiles on the main social networks, he actively exploits the role of a video blogger: on his