Time to read: 15 minutes(s)

Authors: Evgeny Konoplin, Katerina Mayakovskaya*

* 18+ THIS MATERIAL (INFORMATION) WAS PRODUCED, DISTRIBUTED AND (OR) SENT BY FOREIGN AGENT EKATERINA ALEKSEEVNA MAYAKOVSKAYA OR CONCERNING THE ACTIVITIES OF FOREIGN AGENT EKATERINA ALEKSEEVNA MAYAKOVSKAYA

Women in traditional Slavic sarafans and kokoshniks dance in a circle. A soft, almost meditative melody by Indian pianist Dinesh Railhan plays in the background. Text slowly appears at the bottom of the screen, declaring that the Jewish religious movement "Chabad" will soon destroy the world.

To prevent this from happening, Natalia Lazarieva, a Ufa resident who calls herself a "journalist," calls for the reading of poems and prayers addressed to "our cosmic parent—the Sun." Video with a round dance was published on her Telegram channel. 

"Putin, Mishustin, Medvedev, Golikova, Matviyenko, Volodin, Shoigu, Siluanov, Lavrov—they're all Jews who changed their names. This was hidden from us, the people," the blogger's anti-Semitic and conspiracy theorist content garners tens of thousands of views on YouTube. More than 42 subscribers follow her posts, which blend esotericism with local topics: in one video Lazarieva discusses the dangers of Chabad for Russia and warns of a “global conspiracy,” and in other — demands that the Irandyk ridge in Bashkortostan be recognized as a specially protected natural monument. 

In early autumn, Lazaricheva was detained. A criminal case was opened against her. Searches were also conducted at the homes of other Ufa residents; they are currently being held as witnesses. All are charged in the same extremism case, and all are supporters of Svetlana Lada-Rus, a disgraced "folk healer" who spread esoteric views, belief in a global conspiracy, and anti-globalist rhetoric. 

"NeMoskva" tells the story of the heroines of these events, what the Lada-Rus network represents today, who is joining it, and why the state is persecuting them.

Searches and criminal case

The morning of September 17th began for Natalia not with prayers, but with the blows of a sledgehammer. At the home of Lazaricheva and four of her associates—Guzel Reiter, Tamara Akhmetzhanova, Gulnara Khusniyarova, and Elvira Sagadeeva— came Security forces. All five were detained. According to human rights activists, Lazarieva and Reiter were taken to the Ufa FSB office, while the others were taken to the Investigative Committee for questioning. 

Pro-government sources сообщилиthat the detainees are associated with the banned extremist organization "Volya Party" and are followers of Svetlana Lada-Rus (Peunova). Pro-Kremlin publications published footage of the confiscation of "sectarian literature".

Who is Svetlana Lada-Rus?
Svetlana Peunova was born in 1958 in Lankaran (Azerbaijan SSR) to a military man and a teacher. From 1960 onward, she lived in Samara, where she subsequently conducted her primary work.
After graduating from music school, she taught in schools for a short time, and in the 1990s, she suddenly became an “energy healer,” having learned This craft was taught at five-day courses by "healer" Juna. Svetlana Peunova began seeing Samara residents in 1995, in the lobby of a clinic where doctors allowed her to "help." When mass healing was banned in 1996 and licensing of "psychics" was introduced, Peunova didn't go underground. Instead, she was one of the first to receive official approval from Vasily Pavlov, deputy head of the Samara Regional Health Department, and opened her own center, "Path to the Sun," in Samara. "Healer" published books and hosted her own show on local TV and gathered supporters in local community centers, and also received a PhD in psychology.
Over time, Peunova became interested in politics. She participated in campaigns at various levels, from the Tolyatti mayoral election to the State Duma; her approval ratings reached 10%. In 2008, Svetlana founded the Volya party, but the Ministry of Justice denied it registration. Around the same time, she became fascinated with conspiracy theories, from reptilians from the planet Nibiru to secret service conspiracies. In 2012, she attempted to run in the presidential election but failed to collect the required number of signatures. 
In 2015, Peunova took the surname Lada-Rus. A year later, her party was declared extremist, and its leader fled to an unknown location and remains wanted to this day. However, Svetlana Lada-Rus herself, now designated a "foreign agent," and her organizations, many of which are new, remain quite popular.

Searches of Bashkortostan supporters of Peunova were toughOfficers entered Elvira Sagadeeva's apartment with a crowbar and a sledgehammer, removing her belongings while being filmed. Tamara Akhmetzhanova's investigation was conducted at two locations simultaneously—her city apartment and her dacha. At Guzel Reiter's house, the windows were smashed and all electronics, including the mother and child's phones, were confiscated.

Two days later it became known that 49-year-old Lazaricheva instituted She faces two serious criminal charges: "rehabilitation of Nazism" and knowingly making a false report of a terrorist attack. On September 19, the Kirovsky District Court of Ufa sentenced her to two months in pretrial detention. The reason The accusations were based on posts from 2024 on her Telegram channel: in the summer, Lazaryeva criticized the Day of Remembrance and Sorrow, and in the fall, she wrote about “nuclear strikes on the cities of Bashkortostan.” 

Law enforcement officials claim they are investigating the activities of an entire network of Lada-Rus followers, and supporters of the persecuted activists are recording new videos in their support every day.

One person

All five detained Ufa residents display the same set of beliefs on their social media: anti-Semitic and anti-Western rhetoric, nostalgia for the USSR, a belief in a "spiritual revival" under the auspices of Lada-Rus, and everyday, most often environmental, activism.

How the Lada-Rus network works
The structure of organizations affiliated with Svetlana Lada-Rus has changed repeatedly over the years of her activism. Before she and her supporters began to be persecuted, the "Path to the Sun" center and the "Svetlana Peunova Development Academy" occupied key positions, followed by the political party "Volya." Subsequently, after Lada-Rus fled the country, the "All-People's Union for the Rebirth of Russia" emerged. Followers of the "healer" who belonged to this organization made a significant contribution to the development of COVID-19 dissidence during the coronavirus pandemic. The same "OSVR" supported invasion of Ukraine, while criticizing Putin for poorly equipping the army. Lada-Rus's own position, considered by the OSVR to be the "leader of the Russian people," differs: although she calls the Ukrainian army "brutal Nazis," she condemns Putin for the "special operation." condemns. 
During the pandemic, the Independent Association of Doctors became active—an organization that positioned itself as an expert group and actually included healthcare workers, albeit with somewhat exotic views. Its chair, Alina Lushavina, a blogger and neurologist, spoke out against vaccinations and wearing masks during the pandemic. claimedthat COVID-19 can be treated with active walking. In 2024, Lushavin арестовали in the case of "justification of terrorism". 
Another prominent organization is the grassroots project "Council of Mothers and Wives," led by Olga Tsukanova, a longtime supporter of Lada-Rus. The organization fights for the rights of those mobilized, but globally it displays the same conspiracy theories. Both the Council of Mothers and Wives and Tsukanova herself have now been designated as "foreign agents"; the latter was convicted for community service under the article on failure to comply with the law on “foreign agents”.
Besides the "core" organizations, one can also note a large network of media relays—primarily Telegram and YouTube channels, as well as Instagram pages resembling typical regional activist blogs with audiences ranging from several thousand to tens of thousands of subscribers. A closer look at the criticism of local and federal authorities (often quite justified) and grassroots initiatives reveals the same set of beliefs: esotericism and "ancestral energy," conspiracy theories and nostalgia for the USSR. And, of course, posts in support of Svetlana Lada-Rus and her persecuted supporters.

For open Google Drive, owned by the Peunovites, published entire "resolutions." One of them, for example, uses the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall on March 22, 2024, as a pretext to discuss the destruction of the Soviet Union: "The USSR was destroyed by the same forces that sent Hitler to the USSR—Western bankers. After the war, the CIA was created with Rockefeller money. The CIA developed the Harvard Project to conquer the USSR by infiltrating its agents into the country's government. The first volume—'Perestroika'—was implemented by Gorbachev, a CIA agent. The second volume—'Reforms'—was carried out by Yeltsin, an MI6 agent."

Ideological texts coexist with local activism: detained activists write petitions and sit in reception areas, attend public hearings with folders of "secret documents from open sources," and show up at environmental protests. For example, Guzel Reiter participated In campaigns against gold mining in Bashkortostan and its associated consequences, lawyer Gulnara Khusniyarova represented social and environmental activists in court, including defending Altai activist Aruna Arna, who was persecuted for political reasons. Activist Elvira Sagadeeva advocated against Shaman's performance in Ufa, attended a reception with the Deputy Minister of Culture of the Republic with a demand to cancel the concert. 

See also: Who is the owner of the copper mountain?Metallurgical companies are attempting to enter the Kyrkty-Tau ridge in Bashkortostan for the second time. Locals are prepared to fight, authorities are deploying security forces to the area, and observers are predicting another act of state corporate raiding.

A month after the searches and arrests, a criminal case has been opened only against Natalia Lazaricheva. She will remain in pretrial detention until at least mid-November. The other participants interrogated in the status of witnesses and released. 

Women's sect

The active initiative groups and organizations associated with Lada-Rus are composed predominantly of women of a certain type. Many of them are over forty, single or divorced, employed in the public sector, or have precarious part-time jobs. 

Svetlana's personality plays a significant role in the fact that Lada-Rus's target audience is precisely this: her soft, almost maternal delivery, according to neurologist and integrative psychologist Kristina (who asked not to use her last name). She also points out how the engagement funnel is structured: supporters are "recruited" not through conversations and statements on politics or conspiracy theories, but through everyday pain: children's chronic illnesses, fatigue, lack of government support, and fear of the future. 

^{Speeches in defense of Lada-Rus. Source: VKontakte}

Lada-Rus and its supporters offer these women not only an alternative in the form of a "party"—they are welcomed as subjects and called "forces capable of stopping the destruction of Russia." According to the interviewee, people come to Lada-Rus not for ideology, but for support, for the feeling that their pain is seen and shared. 

"It is precisely this inner vulnerability and need for security that makes them particularly receptive to charismatic leaders who promise order, care, and hope. When familiar institutions—family, state, medicine, religion—cease to provide support, people seek new forms of belonging. And Lada-Rus becomes such a surrogate for community and meaning for many. However, behind the promise of "true strength" and "family restoration" often lies manipulation. These are the same mechanisms as in coaching communities or MLM: dependence on a charismatic leader, group pressure, isolation from the “outside world”, — says Christina.

Are Lada-Rus supporters politically persecuted?

The Sova Research Center, which studies anti-extremist policies in Russia, has documented in detail all cases of persecution of Svetlana Lada-Rus' supporters. However, the terms "political persecution" and "political prisoners" are not used in this case. 

"There are prosecutions with obvious political overtones, but they are impossible to isolate in a legal sense. Moreover, the presence of a political motive on the part of the authorities does not make the prosecution unlawful or, as we say, illegitimate. For example, members of neo-Nazi groups are actively arrested for political reasons and in connection with their politically motivated activities, but their sentences are most often entirely justified. Counterexamples are obvious. The Volya party and its derivatives, however, are an intermediate case," Sova director Alexander Verkhovsky commented in an interview with NeMoskva. 

Charges against activists are most often based on Article 282.2 of the Russian Criminal Code ("Organizing the activities of an extremist organization and participating in the activities of such an organization"), due to the banned Volya party. This article is politicized, Verkhovsky notes, but "the legality of its application depends on whether the organization itself was legally banned." 

"Was Volya's ban justified? It's difficult to give a definitive answer. There were grounds for it: Peunova and her supporters have engaged in, and continue to engage in, a great deal of xenophobic propaganda. Were the radicalism and scale of this propaganda sufficient to warrant a ban? It's impossible to say for sure. They also made, and continue to make, many attacks against the authorities, but Volya seriously called for rebellion in the 2010s, before the ban," Verkhovsky explains. 

The interviewee doesn't have a clear explanation for why they came to the Bashkortostan supporters of Lada-Rus now, but there are many similar cases across Russia. For example, almost simultaneously with the searches in Ufa стало известно regarding the criminal case against 42-year-old resident of Kamchatka Krai, Vasili Vershinina. She is charged under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Russian Criminal Code, mentioned above. However, Verkhovsky is not prepared to say that there is an obvious connection between this case, the Ufa searches, and other cases of persecution of members of numerous Lada-Rus organizations. 

The human rights project OVD-Info does not have consolidated statistics on cases involving Lada-Rus supporters, so it also does not attempt to assess political motivation. However, there are at least a few cases where political motivation has been acknowledged by other organizations. For example, the Memorial Human Rights Center once noticed He's involved in the case of Marina Gerasimova, a close associate of Lada-Rus, who was arrested back in 2016 for fraud. More recent cases include the case of Olga Tsukanova, founder of the Council of Mothers and Wives. sentenced to correctional labor for “violating the procedures for the activities of a foreign agent” (Article 330.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). 

In 2024, "Support for Political Prisoners. Memorial" also included Alina Lushavina in the "list of individuals subject to criminal prosecution, which is highly likely to contain signs of political motivation and serious violation of the law." impute "Justification of terrorism" (Article 205.2 of the Russian Criminal Code) was the basis for the prosecution, which was a repost of a publication by writer and publicist Anatoly Nesmiyan, in which he discussed the possible beneficiaries of the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall. The Sova Research Center also has concludedthat there were “insufficient grounds” for prosecution for this text. 

Competition for Heads

Is Svetlana Lada-Rus herself and her supporters, or more often, her female followers, a significant political force, or is it more of a cult? And why are the authorities persecuting them? 

"Formally, it's a cult with all the classic hallmarks: a charismatic leader, total control, an alternative worldview. But in the Russian context, any group that claims its own version of reality and gathers a community around itself automatically finds itself in the political arena. Not because they're storming the Kremlin, but because they're competing for heads—offering an alternative system of meaning in a situation where the state is seeking a monopoly on truth. The paradox is that these women (and they're predominantly women aged 40 to 60, lost in the turbulence of the post-Soviet transition) are simultaneously protesting and fleeing. They're protesting against a world that has deceived them—Soviet guarantees have collapsed, the new Russia has offered nothing in return, and now there's a universal mobilization of meanings under the Z-flag. And they're escaping to a utopia of a "sixth race" and "spiritual rebirth," where they're finally valued and where they're the chosen ones. It's protest through escapism, which, by the way, is very Russian." — says Dmitry Loboyko.

According to the interviewee, the total mobilization launched by the Russian regime after 2022—not only military but also ideological—doesn't tolerate even potential alternative centers of loyalty. And in the current situation, Lada-Rus' adherents are very "convenient material" for persecution. Loboyko notes that they are marginalized and can be accused of extremism, in part due to the doctrine of racial hierarchy, and because of the stigma of esotericists, obscurantists, and "sectarians," they do not evoke public sympathy. Their persecution "demonstrates the system's vigilance without political risks—unlike, say, the crackdown on supposed liberals or Orthodox activists."

"Do they pose a threat? Directly, of course not. There are only a few thousand or a couple of tens of thousands of them now, they're not politically organized, they lack resources. But symbolically, yes. They expose cracks in the ideological monopoly. When people retreat en masse to alternative realities, be it esotericism, conspiracy theories, or virtual worlds, it's a signal: the official narrative isn't working; it doesn't explain or offer comfort. Peunova's movement fills the vacuum—the very one the state is diligently trying to fill with enemy images and what it calls patriotism and traditional values," the political scientist says.

Dmitry Loboyko finds it ironic that, in the case of the persecution of Svetlana Lada-Rus' supporters, the authorities are "fighting the symptom while ignoring the disease." He notes that Peunova herself is not the cause of the atomization, anxiety, and search for meaning—she is a product of it. 

The harsher the regime, the less space there is for legitimate dissent or simply otherness, the more people will seek refuge in "sixth races" and other esoteric havens. The persecution of adherents only confirms their worldview: look, the system really is against us, which means we're on the right path. It's a classic martyrdom effect, which only strengthens cults. So yes: Lada-Rus' followers are both a threat and a safety valve. A threat because they demonstrate the failure of state ideology. A safety valve because they channel protest energy into a realm safe for the regime. The authorities understand this, but they can't tolerate even such marginal autonomy. Control is more important than rationality.

Head illustration generated using ChatGPT