Argentine government have dismantled a infamous Russian cult, arresting 14 folks in a joint operation throughout two airports that has uncovered a sinister community of alleged human exploitation.
Konstantin Rudnev, the 57-year-old founding father of the Ashram Shambhala sect, was once intercepted along his fans at airports in Bariloche and Buenos Aires on March 31 whilst heading to Brazil.
The investigation started when a tender Russian girl arrived at a health facility in Bariloche to offer start, elevating instant considerations amongst scientific workforce.
Medical doctors had been alarmed through the girl’s situation and the conduct of her accompanying partners. The 22-year-old gave the impression significantly malnourished and visibly nervous, with the 2 girls accompanying her fighting her from talking. This caused an instantaneous police investigation that may get to the bottom of a fancy internet of alleged criminality.
“Her passport mentioned she was once 22, but when she’s even 15, that is too previous,” a detective advised Infobae.
Rudnev, who describes himself as an “alien from the superstar Sirius,” has a protracted historical past of prison conduct. A former Soviet soldier who was once hospitalized after a psychiatric episode within the mid-Eighties, he based the sect in Novosibirsk in 1989. At its height within the Nineties, the group claimed over 20,000 acolytes throughout 18 Russian areas.
The sect’s operations had been deeply manipulative. Fans had been required to donate their assets, abandon their households and put up to Rudnev’s excessive regulate mechanisms. Ladies had been reportedly coerced into sexual family members, whilst males had been mandated to stay celibate. The gang’s source of revenue basically got here from promoting recordings of ritualistic encounters and charging exorbitant charges for yoga and meditation lessons.
When arrested, the gang was once present in ownership of 130 capsules containing cocaine, 12 mobile phones, 10 SIM playing cards, a satellite tv for pc telephone and $15,000 in money. In step with El Pais, Rudnev tried to slit his personal throat throughout the arrest however police intervened.
Rudnev’s earlier prison troubles come with an 11-year jail sentence in 2013 for rape, drug trafficking and organizing a gaggle engaged in violence.
“Rudnev’s cult individuals incessantly misplaced their cash and assets and deserted their kin and pals, and lots of of them had been reported lacking,” reported The Siberian Instances, as quoted through The Day-to-day Mail in 2013.
“After becoming a member of up, ladies had been compelled to participate in ‘ritual rapes’ and orgies with Rudnov and different cult leaders,” a Novosibirsk court docket heard.
After his liberate in 2021, Rudnev moved to Montenegro, the place he was once up to now detained for filming what police described as “ritual pornography.”
Spiritual pupil Alexander Neveev, talking to Russian outlet 360.ru, described the group as a “very unhealthy pseudo-tantric staff,” noting its excessive practices integrated ritual violence and a perverse interpretation of non secular practices.
The cult lured new individuals via social media, promising monetary prosperity and private happiness via “girls’s practices” and pseudo-spiritual manipulation.
The ladies discovered with Rudnev in Argentina had been significantly emaciated, with patches of baldness — a possible indication of extended malnutrition and mental regulate. Government at the moment are investigating whether or not the ladies are sufferers of human trafficking or keen contributors within the cult’s actions.
The case has been referred to the Federal Prosecutor’s Place of work in Bariloche, with fees prone to come with human trafficking, sexual exploitation and drug offenses. A initial listening to is predicted within the coming days to resolve the prison standing of the rest detainees.
Because the investigation continues, questions stay in regards to the complete extent of the Ashram Shambala sect’s operations and the possible collection of sufferers left in its wake.
This newsletter first gave the impression in bne IntelliNews.
