Our regular readers are aware of the activities of the Orthodox oligarch Konstantin Malofeev (pictured) and his current deputy, Leonid Reshetnikov, the former director of RISI and a retired lieutenant general of the SVR (KGB). These two architects of the «Russian world», who failed to create it on many fronts, are now actively working to recreate a monarchy within it, and they do not hide this fact. It is worth noting that Malofeev recently took over the leadership of the so-called World Russian People’s Council (VRPC), which is officially the «public wing of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). Unofficially, however, this organization is seen by the ROC as a kind of ruling party through which it defines its ideology and major policy goals.
Now it seems that this is not enough. According to several media reports, including those close to Malofeev, he recently announced his departure from the A Just Russia party and will now focus on transforming the VRPC into the Zemsky Sobor and developing a program for Russia’s development until 2050.
It is worth recalling that the Zemsky Sobor was the body that elected Mikhail Romanov as Tsar in 1612 and gave the Romanov dynasty complete (autocratic) power over Russia. Apparently now, in light of discussions about various transfers of power from Putin to… Putin, the ROC and the VRPC are proposing their own solution — his election as the lifelong ruler of Russia, even anointed by the Church as the «leader of the nation». Officially, this could be accompanied by the appointment of Dmitry Medvedev as nominal president and Putin as prime minister, as before. However, since the election of Medvedev or another handpicked general as president can now only happen through gross falsifications, having a president with undermined legitimacy would allow a prime minister or head of some state council, Putin, who has been elected «leader of the nation» and anointed by the church, to become an autocratic monarch.
However, in Putin’s place, one should be wary of such proposals, considering that their initiators have already failed in several major projects they have undertaken. The latest failure occurred recently, when the Bulgarian prosecutor’s office opened a criminal case against Nikolai Malinov, the leader of the local «Russophiles» movement, accusing him of being an agent of Malofeev and Reshetnikov, who were working to establish Moscow’s control over the country. As a result, the ironically named «Russophiles» network was crushed, its leader is under house arrest (released on bail), and Reshetnikov is banned from entering Bulgaria for 10 years.
Earlier, a similar attempt to stage a pro-Russian coup in Montenegro was neutralized, and Russian citizens close to the circles of the «Russian world» advocates were arrested. And, of course, the biggest failure of Malofeev and company was the project of «Novorossiya,» which the funded «volunteers» were supposed to establish in southeastern Ukraine. One of the few surviving pioneers of this project, Igor Strelkov-Girkin, constantly talks about its collapse and accuses his former allies of treason.
Let’s hope that with such a track record, the project of establishing an Orthodox monarchy in Russia will meet the same fate.