Hearing about our website, some anticult activists hastened to assure the audience on their social media pages that there is no international anticult network of any kind. Nevertheless, the materials we are gradually collecting show a different picture – that there are really close ties between leaders of those movements in various countries. At first glance, it is not surprising that people who consider themselves experts in combating cults meet at annual conferences, maintain contacts and share their experiences. However, it is worth looking at the scale of those interactions and the hidden ultimate goal. There is always a goal.
What is the goal?
As of today, there are four major anticult blocs: the United States, Europe, China, and Russia. Despite the differences in political systems, mentality, standards of living and complex geopolitical relations, anticult organizations in different countries demonstrate an extremely cohesive unity. They overcome political disagreements by joining forces to counter those whom they unanimously recognize as cultists or sectarians. Consequently, we witness worldwide persecution of Scientologists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Falun Gong, and many other small or new religious movements that have a legitimate right to exist.
Indeed, such a transnational unity raises questions and makes you think: what is actually behind this coherent coordination and convergence of interests?
FECRIS Conference in Riga in 2018
In 2018, well-known anticult activists gathered at the annual FECRIS conference held in Riga, Latvia. It is noteworthy that there is no detailed official report on this meeting, and neither there are photos from it on the Internet. Instead, there are rare photos on social media and rare notes, thanks to which we can understand who attended the event.
Let’s start with a release published in UNADFI’s journal BulleS, edition No. 141 1:
The published release contains a list of participants, including:
– Dr. Oleg Nikiforov (Latvia)
– Danièle Muller-Tulli (Switzerland)
– Svetlana Krilova (Latvia)
– Lucienne Bouvier de Cachard (France)
– Mirijam Wiedemann (Germany)
– Grégoire Perra (France)
– Laurence Peyron (France)
– Artyom Grigorian (Russia)
– Kerstine Vanderput (Belgium)
– Karin Krijnen (Netherlands)
– Camilla Rehn (Sweden)
– Miguel Perlado (Spain)
– Jon Atack (UK)
– Yuval Laor (USA)
We would never have known who else was present at the conference if there hadn’t been photos on the Facebook page of Branka Dujmic Belge 2 who previously worked at FECRIS.
On those photos, we see the following figures in a warm and friendly atmosphere:
– Alexandra Stein (BBC, UK)
– Alexander Dvorkin (RACIRS, Russia)
– Luigi Corvaglia (Italy)
– Branka Dujmic Belge (FECRIS, Belgium)
– Janja Lalich (FECRIS, USA)
Alexandra Stein is a British anticult activist, and BBC publishes her articles as of a recognized authoritative expert. She promoted and praised American programmers Rick Ross and Steven Hassan and spoke positively about Dvorkin.
Here are more photos with her in addition to the archive.
On FECRIS’ official website, there is a small note regarding the event that took place in Riga in the summer of 2018, which says that the Latvian Committee for Combating the Totalitarian Sects (L.C.C.T.S.), being part of FECRIS, organized a conference in Riga on June 2, 2018, with introduction by Mr. Andrejs Mamikins 6 (Andrey Mamykin).
His persona deserves special attention. In July 2024, Andrey Mamykin, a former Latvian MEP and member of the Latvian Russian Union (LKS) political party, was put on the international wanted list. He was accused of glorifying and justifying the war crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine. Mamykin fled from Latvia to Russia.
A year earlier, on September 29, 2023, the Latvian State Security Service opened a criminal case according to Article 74.1 of the Criminal Law, on justification of genocide, crimes against humanity, crimes against peace and war crimes, by evaluating Mamykin’s statements during broadcasts of several Russian TV channels loyal to the Kremlin, as well as in social media. At the talk show “Evening with Vladimir Solovyov” on Russia-1 TV channel on September 21, 2023, Mamykin said that Russia “is doing a great holy thing in Ukraine.”
After moving to Russia, Andrey Mamykin actively engaged in promoting pro-Russian ideas, which is evidenced by numerous publications and his personal YouTube channel 8. Currently, the channel is regularly replenished with new videos, including interviews focused on covering political events from a pro-Russian perspective.
Moreover, we took notice of several representatives of L.C.C.T.S. anticult organization, the Latvian branch of FECRIS: Oleg Nikiforov 3, Viktor Yolkin 4, and Svetlana Krilova 5. It has soon turned out that Mamykin, Nikiforov and Yolkin are closely connected through the Latvian Russian Union oppositional political force. They were on the list of parliamentary candidates for the 2018 elections to the 13th Latvian Saeima.
Suddenly, this story began to look quite different. Doesn’t it remind you of anything? Somehow, we recalled the black PR-technologist and anticultist Pavel Broyde, an agent of RACIRS, and his role in unleashing the war in Ukraine. Perhaps, a similar task to stir up the Baltic region rested on the above-mentioned entities and people. However, we will talk about Nikiforov and Yolkin from the Latvian Committee for Combating the Totalitarian Sects (L.C.C.T.S.) in a separate article.
Conclusion
Let’s go back to the participants in the FECRIS anticult conference in Riga. Did they know each other? Of course, they did. Did they exchange information and destructive methods for targeting innocent people, victims of their defamatory attacks? Absolutely. Seeing identical narratives in the media about the same new religious movements across the USA, France, the UK, Italy, Russia, and other countries, one may wonder: doesn’t this point to a transnational network with a single ideological center?
Where is it located? In our view, this center is currently based in Russia and is represented by RACIRS — or rather, by those standing behind this organization. RACIRS and FECRIS are merely executors.
But it’s not only their visible coordination that is alarming. No one forbids meeting and communicating. The more dangerous aspect is the hidden side of their activities, which few people see or understand. By promoting totalitarian views and engaging in political games, these anticult groups — along with covert Russian agents of influence — not only maintain informational synchronization, but also undermine the democratic principles upon which a free society is built; they violate national constitutions and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Their activities can have severe consequences. When repressive measures are encouraged against certain beliefs, it erodes trust in government institutions and destabilizes nations from within.
This is what happened in Russia where Alexander Dvorkin’s 30 years of anticult hysteria ended with the nearly absolute demise of citizens’ religious and democratic freedoms. Today in Russia, one can receive a prison sentence simply for a “wrong” like on social media or an “unorthodox” view of faith in God. This is not a joke; it’s the visible outcome of the destructive brainwashing by anticult instigators.
So, what is their goal? Let’s return to the question posed at the beginning of this article.
Their goal is to overthrow democracy in Europe and the United States. Following “The Impact” documentary, we are proving this.
This ideologically united network doesn’t simply fight so-called cults. It plants seeds of mistrust and fear that have the potential to destroy the foundations of democratic societies and lead to genocide.
As we contemplate the horror of genocide and recognize its executors, we often lose sight of the deeper cause — the provocateurs who instilled the idea in the minds of killers; the instigators who quietly and consistently undermined the foundation of stable and secure relations among nations.
Who are those instigators and provocateurs? Read our articles.
Sources
1. https://www.unadfi.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Fecris-Riga-mai-2018-Compte-rendu.pdf
2. https://www.facebook.com/branka.dujmicdelcourt
3. https://www.russkije.lv/lv/lib/read/o-nikiforov.html
4. https://www.facebook.com/v.yolkin
5. https://www.krilova.org/%D1%81%D0%BC%D0%B8-%D0%BE%D0%B1%D0%BE-%D0%BC%D0%BD%D0%B5-2/%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BD%D1%84%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%86%D0%B8%D1%8F-fecris-2018-%D0%B2-%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B3%D0%B5/
6. https://www.fecris.org/uncategorized/l-c-c-t-s-latvian-committee-for-combating-the-totalitarian-sects-organised-the-feris-conference-in-riga-02-06-2018-with-introduction-by-mr-andrejs-mamikins/
7. https://rusojuz.lv/spisok-1-kandidaty-partii-russkij-sojuz-latvii-na-vyborah-v-13-j-sejm/
8. https://www.youtube.com/@mamikinstv9131/videos
