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Russia’s Supreme Court designates MKU movement as terrorist organization

According to the case files, prosecutors found out that the movement, based on Nazi ideals, had been created in Ukraine in order to establish "a racially pure state"

MOSCOW, January 16. /TASS/. Russia’s Supreme Court designated the MKU international movement as a terrorist organization on Monday, a court spokesperson told TASS.

"The court upheld the Russian prosecutor general’s claim that the international movement called "Maniacs. The Cult of Murder" should be declared a terrorist organization and its activities in Russia should be banned," the spokesperson said.

According to the case files, prosecutors found out that the movement, based on Nazi ideals, had been created in Ukraine in order to establish "a racially pure state." The promotion of the MKU’s ideas on the Internet is aimed at forming a cult of violence and encouraging murder, which has led to a rise in social tensions and an increased atmosphere of fear. The prosecutor’s claim said that MKU members committed crimes related to extremism and terrorism, as well as violence against other people.

In August 2022, Russia’s National Anti-Terrorism Committee stated that terrorist organizations and the ideological leaders of destructive movements such as Columbine (outlawed in Russia) and the MKU kept trying to involve teenagers in their illegal activities, including through the Internet. Law enforcement agencies have detained over 150 MKU members in 50 Russian regions since 2021. In September 2022, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) announced a large-scale operation, which also involved the Investigative Committee and the Interior Ministry and included investigative activities and searches in 46 regions, targeting 187 Russian members of Internet communities sharing ideas of mass murder, administered by moderators from the Columbine terrorist movement and the MKU group.