FRANCE: How Russia infiltrated for many years a European anti-cult organization founded in Paris
HRWF (24.04.2025) – Thirteen months after Russia’s invasion war of Ukraine, the “Fédération Européenne des Centres de Recherche et d’Information sur le Sectarisme” (FECRIS), which was founded and registered in Paris in 1994, had no other choice than to exclude its Russian branch called RATsIRS and its president Alexander Dvorkin to try to avoid a public scandal and save its face. Did it manage it?
It did not, according to Bitter Winter which published a documented research paper on 11 April 2025 titled “When Dvorkin called FECRIS Cowards and Racists” and examining the twists and turns of this “purge.”
Here are a number of excerpts of this paper authored by Dr Massimo Introvigne.
Alexander Dvorkin, FECRIS’ vice-president for 12 years, and Putin
“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.
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 supporting Russia’s aggressive policies against Ukraine
“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: FECRIS still tolerating Dvorkin’s intolerance and pro-Putin’s policies
“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.”
FECRIS finally excludes Alexander Dvorkin
“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.’”
The answer of Dvorkin, which was fully published by Bitter Winter, was furious and insulting towards FECRIS’ leaders, calling them “cowards and racists.”
Conclusion
The author of the paper concluded by saying:
“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.”
The full paper of Dr Massimo Introvigne is available HERE.
HRWF Footnote
(*) In 2009, FECRIS organized an anti-cult conference in St Petersburg with the Center for Religious Studies „St. Irenaeos of Lyon“ (Moscow) which was sponsored by the University of St Petersburg and the French Government
More reading about FECRIS
Photo: A bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church as well as Alexander Dvorkin and Luigi Corvaglia, both members of FECRIS’ board were speakers at an Orthodox anti-cult conference in Salekhard (Russia), in September 2017 (*).
