Scientologists Target of Kremlin-Linked Effort
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MOSCOW — A Kremlin-connected youth movement is targeting the Church of Scientology with pickets and a planned lawsuit in an attempt to shut down its center in St. Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city.
“We’ve decided to go after the most odious and dangerous of the cults,” said Aleksey Kuznetsov, an organizer with Walking Together, a youth group that supports the policies of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Walking Together members pitched a tent near the Scientology headquarters in central St. Petersburg for 12 days, distributed anti-Scientologist pamphlets and erected a large sign reading, “The Sect Is There,” with an arrow pointing at the five-story building.
A Scientology spokeswoman said it had filed three legal complaints against Walking Together. Nina De Kastro predicted the church would triumph in court.
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