Sorok Sorokov Movement
The Sorok Sorokov Movement is a Russian Orthodox-traditionalist nationalist radical social movement founded on 1 June 2013. It was created by Andrei Kormukhin and athlete Vladimir Nosov. Its main activity is the protection of the construction of [Eastern Russian Orthodoxy|Orthodox Church|churches], religious processions and other church events.
History
In 2012, after the scandal and the Pussy Riot criminal case, a number of well-known church figures, such as Vsevolod Chaplin, publicly supported the proposal to create Orthodox squads in order to protect religious places from persons "carrying out blasphemous acts".The former "Moloth" movement was created on 1 June 2013 by self-proclaimed composer Andrei "Moloth" Kormukhin and his fellow athletes at the moment when they "faced opposition to the construction of churches in Moscow", and then was renamed to "Sorok Sorokov". According to Kormukhin, not everyone “liked” the program for the construction of Orthodox churches in Moscow: “When the builders began to attack the builders, set dogs on them, insult the priests, we realized that it was time for us to say our word”. In addition, the movement was created as "a response to the 2012 information campaign against the Russian Orthodox Church and the Pussy Riot scandal." At that moment in time, the movement saw itself primarily as a defender of new temple construction within the framework of the ROC's "200 Churches" program, but was not limited to this.
In particular, members of the movement accompanied the Gift of the Magi in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Volgograd and Kyiv. The trip to Kyiv took place at the height of the Euromaidan, from 24 to 30 January 2014. It turned out to be especially memorable: in contrast to Moscow, where two thousand policemen provided protection for the shrine and pilgrims, in Kyiv the authorities assigned only 25 policemen. Igor Girkin, little known at that time, also participated in the protection of the shrine along with members of the movement.