Sorok Sorokov Movement

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The Sorok Sorokov Movement (

In 2012, after the scandal and the Pussy Riot criminal case, a number of well-known church figures, such as Vsevolod Chaplin, publicly supported the proposal to create Orthodox squads in order to protect religious places from persons "carrying out blasphemous acts".^[3]

The Sorok Sorokov Movement was created on 1 June 2013^[1] by Andrei Kormukhin and his fellow athletes at the moment when they "faced opposition to the construction of churches in Moscow." According to Kormukhin, not everyone “liked” the program for the construction of Orthodox churches in Moscow: “When the builders began to attack the builders, set dogs on them, insult the priests, we realized that it was time for us to say our word”. In addition, the movement was created as "a response to the 2012 information campaign against the Russian Orthodox Church and the Pussy Riot scandal." At that moment in time, the movement saw itself primarily as a defender of new temple construction within the framework of the ROC's "200 Churches" program, but was not limited to this.^[4]

In particular, members of the movement accompanied the Gift of the Magi in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Volgograd and Kyiv. The trip to Kyiv took place at the height of the Euromaidan, from 24 to 30 January 2014. It turned out to be especially memorable: in contrast to Moscow, where two thousand policemen provided protection for the shrine and pilgrims, in Kyiv the authorities assigned only 25 policemen. Igor Strelkov, little known at that time, also participated in the protection of the shrine along with members of the movement.^[5]

Analysis

Religious scholar Roman Lunkin regards the appearance of the Sorok Sorokov Movement as a bright event in Russian public life. According to him, the movement combines "the defense of biblical values with criticism of liberalism and anti-Western conspiracy theories." In addition, he notes that it has become, unlike some other smaller movements (such as God's Will, the Union of Orthodox Citizens), "a really functioning democratic social force", "a manifestation of civic activism, grassroots democracy", and considers that there are no more similar "religious socio-political movements in Russia".^[6]

References