A man who called for the revival of SMERSH has become one of the leaders of the "Immortal Regiment of Russia" in Tomsk.

Recently in Tomsk have opened A branch of the pro-government movement "Immortal Regiment of Russia." Its leader is Nikolai Mozel, former deputy mayor of Tomsk and now chairman of the city's Council of Veterans. The head of the executive committee is Alexander Panych, coordinator of the ONF patriotic project "Living Memory of Victory" and member of the Union State Historians' Association.

Panych is known for his admiration for Stalin. In an earlier interview with Tomskoye Vremya, he urged Revive SMERSH and the KGB in a new format to fight traitors who still listen to and read "foreign agents."

As a reminder, the "Immortal Regiment" march was conceived in 2012 in Tomsk by journalists from TV2, an independent television station that was taken off the air two years later. Those who exploit the march today to further the government's interests try to forget how and where it began.

 According to Sergei Lapenkov, one of the founders of the Immortal Regiment, the pro-government clone of the BP will not take root in Tomsk:

"Unfortunately, all the public organizations that have emerged in our country over the course of the Immortal Regiment's history focus more on formal history. They prioritize formality, with marches and columns, while relegating the memory of ordinary people to the background. I don't know how the Tomsk branch of the Immortal Regiment of Russia will operate; I know how other branches of this organization operate. They will do what they are told from above. There are plenty of people in Tomsk who will somehow sort out their family memories on their own."