When Dvorkin Called FECRIS “Cowards and Racists”
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“Bitter Winter” acquired an interesting document on the relationship between the most prominent Russian anti-cultist and the notorious European anti-cult federation.
April 11, 2025
“Bitter Winter” has received an interesting document, relevant for the history of the international anti-cult movement, a matter we are deeply interested in. We are satisfied it is a public document, on file in accessible official records, which the author never intended as confidential.
It is an exchange of emails between Alexander Dvorkin, Russia’s most prominent anti-cultist as well as a staunch supporter of both the Putin regime and the war of aggression against Ukraine, and FECRIS, the European Federation of Centres of Research and Information on Cults and Sects.
Some background information is needed. FECRIS was created in 1994 in Paris as an umbrella organization for anti-cult movements in different countries. Some of the largest organizations that eventually joined were Russian. Alexander Dvorkin, an employee of the Russian Orthodox Church who received political appointments from the Putin regime, became a prominent representative of FECRIS and, in 2009, its Vice President.
On May 15–16, 2009, a FECRIS symposium was organized in St. Petersburg, during which Dvorkin became FECRIS’ Vice President. Significantly, we read in a press release (which is still online on Dvorkin’s website) that “during the conference, the Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation A.V. Konovalov, met with the leadership of FECRIS and the Rector of St. Petersburg State University N.M. Kropachev, in a meeting which took place in the office of the latter. A similar meeting was also held in the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, where a group of conference participants was received by Judge of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation S.M. Kazantsev. During these meetings, the parties exchanged information and discussed ways to prevent the negative consequences of the activities of totalitarian cults.”
Dvorkin remained Vice President of FECRIS until 2021. During this period, Dvorkin became notorious for insulting all sort of religious minorities. He created considerable problems in the relationships between Russia and India by attacking the “Bhagavad-Gita” as an “extremist” book and stating that “We won’t be mistaken if we say that, from the Orthodox viewpoint, Krishna is one of the demons,” He called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormon Church, “a coarse neo-Pagan occult sect with fairly serious totalitarian tendencies,” As for the Prophet of Islam, Dvorkin claimed that “either Mohammed suffered from a disease and it was a delirium vision; or it was a demonic obsession; or, once again, the Byzantine fathers claim that he was a sort of fantasizer who made it all up and then, which he hadn’t expected, his relatives believed in it. But of course, the combinations of all the three are possible as well.”
Dvorkin also justified the Russian aggressive policy against Ukraine, proclaiming that “cults” had infiltrated Ukrainian politics and promoted anti-Russian tendencies in the Orange Revolution of 2004–5 and the Maidan Revolution of 2014. He unequivocally and systematically supported the Russian aggression against Ukraine of the same year 2014.
From 2009 to 2021, FECRIS was aware of Dvorkin’s insulting attitude to mainline non-Christian religions and his support to the human rights and international law violations of the Putin regime. Yet, it kept him as its Vice President and allowed him to continue as a main international spokesperson for FECRIS.
On February 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. Again unequivocally and systematically, as documented by “Bitter Winter” in numerous articles, Dvorkin and the Russian anti-cult umbrella organization he is the president of, RATsIRS, supported Putin and his war by calling the Ukrainians “Nazis,” “Satanists,” and worse. Of course, Dvorkin was responsible not only for his statements but for those of RATsIRS and RATsIRS officers as well, which he never criticized and in fact often advertised through his website.
“Bitter Winter” and other media noted this support. Yet, Dvorkin remained part of FECRIS, even after ,on November 11, 2022, 82 Ukrainian scholars whose list reads like a who’s who of Ukraine’s academic excellency in the humanities, wrote to French President Macron urging him to cease the French taxpayers’ support to the organization. They wrote again to Macron on February 17, 2023.
February 24, 2023 marked the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine of 2022. One year is a long time, yet FECRIS did not take any action against Dvorkin and RATsIRS, except cosmetic adjustments to its website, hiding some mentions of the Russian affiliates and anti-cultists. Yet, Dvorkin and the Russians were still part of FECRIS.
This was perfectly coherent with FECRIS’ past attitudes. Dvorkin had not started supporting the Russian policy against Ukraine in 2022. He started even before he became Vice President of FECRIS in 2009 and continued through the first Russian invasion of Ukrainian territories in 2014. Nothing substantially changed in 2022—except that Ukrainians (according to information we received from Ukraine, including President Zelenskyy himself) were protesting with France, putting the main source of funding of FECRIS at risk, and that “Bitter Winter” and a few other media were returning to the issue almost every week.
As documented by the exchange of mails we publish, it was only on March 24, 2023, more than thirteen months after the (second) invasion of Ukraine, that FECRIS decided to exclude Dvorkin and the Russian associations. For whatever reason, FECRIS informed Dvorkin on the decision only on April 24, with a mail reading as follows:
“We are writing to inform you that at the General Assembly of 24 March 2023, the decision was taken to exclude you and all Russian associations from the membership list because your positions were not in line with the fundamental values of FECRIS.
The decision taken by the FECRIS Board of Directors, confirmed by the General Assembly is now binding and final. As a consequence. You are no longer a member of the Federation and therefore have no rights to the social fund.
There are no longer any Russian members or correspondents in FECRIS. and the associations concerned will no longer be able to mention their membership of FECRIS by virtue of article 3 of the internal regulations.”
Even more interesting is Dvorkin’s answer:
“Dear Ladies and Gentlemen of FECRIS Bureau,
Your most recent letter was the first message l have received from you in more than a year. This is despite the fact that I myself had written at least two letters to you, asking to clarify your position after my name was removed from the FECRIS mailing list and my Association was erased from the list of FECRIS members. All of this was done without my knowledge and with no warning.
Now, I have received this letter from you. It does not state my faults, nor does it explain how my ‘positions were not in line with the fundamental values of FECRIS.’
In fact, it does not even explain what kind of ‘position’ it is that I have.
Unbeknownst to me, I have been accused of some kind of ‘thought crimes,’ deemed guilt by a secret court, in absentia, and sentenced without even the slightest possibility of answering any accusations or making an appeal. And this was carried out by people who, for many years, posed as my colleagues and friends. Thanks, ‘friends!’
Even the infamous ‘Troika’ courts of Stalin made a better attempt to preserve some semblance of legality. FECRIS deemed it unnecessary to even bother pretending.
In Bordeaux in the fall of 2021, I was told that I, along with one more AC member, was harming FECRIS because I was attracting too much attention and criticism from cults and their apologists. i.e. that our work was effective and this was bad for FECRIS. The only thing I regret now is that I did not resign right then and there, as I had initially planned to do.
When I lived in the USSR, I spoke against Soviet totalitarianism. Then. I started to fight cult totalitarianism. I did not seek FECRIS membership—it was Friedrich Griess who convinced me to enter the Federation. I suppose that it did make sense back then. Back then, FECRIS was different, and the great founding members were free people, valuing democracy and great European culture. Unfortunately, they are gone now and replaced by quite a different crowd.
Your letter convincingly proves that now FECRIS is dead. It betrayed the ideals and goals of its creators. Now it is run by cowards and racists.
I also accuse FECRIS! 1 accuse it of an anti-Russian ideological decision based not on justice or truth, but on purely racist sentiment! I have been accused and kicked out of FECRIS without any evidence, just because I am Russian.
Several years ago, you created your ‘bureau’ which effectively runs FECRIS bypassing the statutes provisions and all democratic procedures. AC became no more than pure formality which has to rubberstamp the decisions secretly taken by this non-elected body. All anti-cult work was effectively removed from the agenda. When was the last time when you did something to counteract any cult? You need FECRIS to conduct your cozy annual meetings, which give you consolation and the semblance that you are at least doing something.
Forget about it. I repeat: FECRIS is dead. The bureau is made up of cowards who lost their freedom and independence a long time ago. The cults have conquered you. At least try to be honest with yourselves (if you still can) and recognize that.
Congratulations, buddies!
I wish all of you a good, long and prosperous life in your cozy retirement.
Best of luck.”
So, why was Dvorkin exactly excluded? He seems to be wrong in claiming the issue was anti-Russian racism: if it were so, why did it not exist in 2009 and 2014? But it would be difficult for FECRIS to argue the reason was Dvorkin’s attitude to the Russian invasion of Ukraine of February 2022. That second invasion was a logical consequence of the first one, in 2014, was justified by the same rationale, and supported by Dvorkin for the same reasons. Also, the invasion happened in February 2022 and action was taken by the FECRIS only in March 2023. The logical conclusion is that FECRIS was not disturbed by Dvorkin’s and RATsIRS’ support of Putin’s anti-Ukrainian policies and his regime’s disregard for human rights.
FECRIS tolerated it in 2009, 2014, and again in February 2022, up to March 2023. When it took action, FECRIS was disturbed by the possibility that international, particularly Ukrainian, criticism might cause it to lost its lavish French funds. As for the procedures denounced by Dvorkin, who is of course a paradoxical advocate of “democracy,” they shed further light on the sordid inner workings of an obnoxious organization.
Source: bitterwinter.org
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