Heavy metal fans could face jail in Russia as Putin bans ‘satanists’

The Kremlin’s top court outlawed the non-existent ‘international satanism movement’ after appeals from the Russian Orthodox Church leader.

Russia is increasingly depicting its enemies in Ukraine and the West as demonic figures. Picture illustration: The Times

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Russian fans of heavy metal and goth music could face prison after the Kremlin’s top court outlawed the “international satanism movement” as an extremist and terrorist group, even though no such organisation exists.

The Supreme Court ruling came after appeals from the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, MPs and other officials. It means that anyone alleged to be a member of the non-existent movement could be jailed for up to eight years.

Critics said the ruling would increase the climate of fear that has gripped Russia since President Putin invaded Ukraine in 2022.

In April, Andrei Kartapolov, a senior MP who heads the parliament’s defence committee, told officials that satanism was a “direct threat to Russian statehood”. He also alleged that the West funded satanists in Russia.

Another pro-Kremlin MP claimed he had received complaints about the growing number of “satanic sex orgies” in Moscow and other cities.

Although Putin was once a KGB officer in the atheist Soviet Union, he now professes a deep Christian faith. He has described Moscow’s standoff with the West over Ukraine as a battle against the “outright satanism” of same-sex marriage and other LGBT rights.

Vladimir Putin with Patriarch Kirill in April: the former KGB officer now professes a deep Christian faith. Picture: Oleg Varov/Russian Orthodox Press Church Service/AP

Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, said in January that he supported calls to ban satanism because it was an “ideology that destroys our national identity and weakens our people”.

Kirill also said Russian soldiers in Ukraine were fighting for values that were opposed to satanic beliefs. That is not true of all Putin’s troops, however. In 2023, in an effort to recruit convicts for the war, Russia freed from prison a member of a gang that killed four teenage girls as part of a ritual.

Police said Nikolai Ogolobyak and his accomplices fried and ate the hearts and tongues of their victims, stabbing one of them 666 times as a devil sacrifice. He was sentenced to 20 years in 2010 but was pardoned by Putin after serving six months at the front in Ukraine.

President Putin pardoned convicted killer Nikolai Ogolobyak. Picture: The Times

Human rights lawyers said that the Supreme Court ruling meant Russians who listen to heavy metal, goth and industrial music, which often uses occult imagery, could be at risk.

Ivan Pavlov, a leading Russian human rights lawyer, asked: “Will they put people in jail for T-shirts with pentagrams and goat heads?”

The ruling, to come into force next month, is expected to be applied retrospectively, meaning that people could be prosecuted for social media posts with satanic imagery made years ago.

The full text of the decision has not been published and it is unclear what images have been banned.

The law is unlikely to affect Dmitry Medvedev, the former Russian president and prime minister who is a self-professed Deep Purple fan. The British band’s songs include Lucifer and Demon’s Eye.

Dmitry Medvedev in April. Picture: Sputnik/Yekaterina Shtukina/Pool/Reuters

Russia has already banned the “international LGBT social movement” as an extremist and terrorist group, placing it on a par with Islamic State and violent neo-Nazi groups. The same designation was used to outlaw Alexei Navalny, the late opposition leader, and his nationwide network of activists.

Russia recently removed the Taliban from its official list of extremist and terrorist groups, as it seeks closer ties with the rulers of Afghanistan.

Even some of Putin’s strongest supporters mocked the proposal to ban satanism when it was floated this year.

Yevgeny Popov, the MP and television presenter, said he had to admit that he was not worried about the rising number of satanic sex orgies. He added: “To my shame, I didn’t know that their number had increased.”

The Times