Searches of supporters of Ukrainian NGOs undesirable in Russia took place in Moscow region

Law-enforcement agencies have searched followers of the Ukrainian religious organization Allatra International Public Movement (recognized as an undesirable organization in Russia) in Moscow and the Moscow Region. The video of the searches was published by Izvestia on Thursday, December 12.

According to the newspaper, searches were conducted at the offices of functionaries of a clandestine cell of the religious movement <...> Shkarina S.V., Nikishin O.V., Veselova L.S., Kostin E.A., Belozubova N.Y., Petrochenko M.N., Graev V.A., Konovalova M.V., Leonova E.N., Ganzin A.V..

The events took place on December 11 and 12 at the addresses of sectarians' residence in the Moscow region. Documents and other items of importance for the criminal case on financing of undesirable NGO (part 2 of article 284.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) were found.

According to the investigators' version, the mentioned defendants sent about 1 million rubles for the activities of the sect to its organizer in Russia, V.V. Alekseev. A criminal case against him had already been initiated earlier. Since February 2022, Alexeev collected 103 million rubles to support the activities of the movement and organized the withdrawal of funds collected in Russia to Ukraine. Law enforcement authorities have suppressed this channel.

It is specified that the movement is a project of Ukrainian and American special services, the purpose of which is to have a destructive impact on Russian society in the conditions of hybrid warfare. To create the illusion of pro-Russian orientation of the sect in Ukraine since 2014 initiated a number of false persecutions of its supporters, and after the start of the special operation, the leadership of the movement imitated the departure to Europe for the sake of creating the image of a "victim".

According to Izvestia, the head of Allatra is Ukrainian citizen Danilov I.M., active members are former SBU head Ivan Bakanov and deputy head of the Ukrainian president's office Irina Vereshchuk.

Since 2014, the sect has been disseminating destructive information and organizing protest actions in Russia, the agency pointed out. In particular, under the guise of an environmental agenda, it calls on the Russian Federation to give up natural resources in favor of the international community. In addition, the media resource "Allatra TV" hosted interviews of officers of the nationalist battalion "Aidar" (terrorist organization, banned in Russia).

Earlier, in early June, a criminal case was opened against a resident of Solnechnogorsk, Moscow Region, who collected 17 million rubles in favor of the movement. According to the investigation, the collection took place from August 2023 to February of the current year. The suspect spent part of the funds on the preparation of propaganda material.

The Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation recognized the international public movement "Allatra" undesirable on the territory of Russia in August 2023. It was noted that the pseudo-religious organization founded in Ukraine was engaged in discrediting the authorities and forcing Russian citizens to extremism.