On Sept. 12, an international congress of far-right and neo-Nazi movements was held in the Mariinsky Palace in St. Petersburg, the seat of the city’s parliament. The event was organized by Konstantin Malofeev, a self-styled “Orthodox” billionaire who has been accused of fraud and cryptocurrency theft. Malofeev began organizing gatherings of far-right forces as early as the spring of 2014 — the same year he financed armed militants led by Igor Girkin (“Strelkov”), first in Crimea and then in the Donbas. Unlike those meetings from a decade ago, the latest gathering attracted several open Nazi sympathizers. Among those in attendance were neo-fascists from Italy and Brazil, neo-Nazis from Greece’s Golden Dawn, radical nationalists from Serbia, Germany’s Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), and other far-right groups. The conference also featured speeches by fascist ideologue Alexander Dugin and Swiss conspiracy theorist and anti-Semite Alain Soral. The event concluded with the establishment of the International Sovereigntist League “Paladins,” named after a murderous terrorist organization founded by a former SS officer.

Archived The fascist gathering was preceded by a massive religious procession in St. Petersburg, led by Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church. Participants included activists from Malofeev’s Tsargrad and Double-Headed Eagle, as well as the Academics Brotherhood and far-right members from at least two foreign groups: Hungary’s 64 Counties Movement (HVIM) and Belgium’s Nation. The congress at the Mariinsky Palace was opened by Konstantin Malofeyev and far-right ideologue Alexander Dugin. A greeting from Alexander Belsky, speaker of the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly, was read aloud at the opening, though Belsky himself did not attend. Despite the scale of the event, the first reports of the gathering appeared only on Sept. 22-23, ten days after it had wrapped up. The event’s organizers and participants differed on the key statistics: Malofeev and Double-Headed Eagle claimed delegates came from 15 organizations, while HVIM reported that representatives of 20 groups from 14 countries attended. At the conclusion of the meeting, delegates announced the creation of the International Sovereigntist League “Paladins” (known in Russian as the “International Anti-Globalist League”). Its declared goals included “defending Christian values and traditional foundations” while opposing migration, globalism, and the so-called “LGBT movement.” The published declaration said members intend to coordinate their actions, exchange political and media experience, and provide mutual support in legal and financial matters. The name “Paladins” references a group founded in the 1970s by former SS officer Otto Skorzeny and linked to the World Anti-Communist League. Skorzeny’s Paladin Group was a paramilitary organization responsible for kidnappings, assassinations, and a terrorist attack at Rome’s airport that killed 32 people. […]