Izborsky Club

The Izborsky club was created by a group of Russian intellectuals in September 2012 amidst celebration of the 1,150th anniversary of the city of Izborsk with support from Pskov regional governor Andrey Turchak. The writer Alexander Prokhanov was elected chairman of the club, and and were elected executive secretaries. According to German political scientist Andreas Umland, the club includes an ultra-conservative flank of supporters of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The club's meetings, according to official information on its website, were held in Yekaterinburg, Ulyanovsk, St. Petersburg, Saratov, Bryansk, Belgorod, Tula, Kaluga, Omsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Orenburg, Donetsk and other cities, as well as in Yakutia, Dagestan and in Crimea. Field meetings of the club were held in Transnistria (Moldova), Syria, Serbia, China, Iran and other countries. Since 2013, the Izborsky Club has published an eponymous magazine with 1,200-copy circulation. In 2015, the organization received a 10 million ruble presidential grant for non-profit organizations. The project's description stated that the organization would attempt to explain "what is the Russian world". == Goals and objectives ==

The Izborsky club's main tasks include: == Influence ==

The organization has significant financial resources and connections in the Kremlin. Its meetings were attended by the Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation Vladimir Medinsky, governors of many regions and presidents of national republics (Yakutia, Dagestan, Chechnya). It is believed that the Izborsky Club reflects the views of the conservative members of the Russian elite. The club has an official publisher of literature: the publishing house "Knizhny Mir". == Criticism and scandals ==

The activities and ideals of the Izborsky Club were subjected to severe criticism from the leading researcher of the Russian Institute of Strategic Studies :The ideology of the "Izbortsy" can be called by the name of their chairman Alexander Prokhanov - "Prokhanovism", as the Bolsheviks liked to give such definitions. This phenomenon is extremely dangerous precisely because of its conciliation, an attempt to connect the incompatible, white with black, God with the devil. "Prokhanovshchina" is much more dangerous than the overt communist and radical leftist ideology ... Prokhanov wants to unite executioners and victims, destroyers and creators, revolutionaries and guardians. An attempt to unite good and evil is the most dangerous basis of "Prokhanovism".Publicist Elena Chudinova criticizes the Izborsky Club, believing that its members adhere to isolationist views. In May 2015, by order of the Izborsky Club, the “Reigning Icon of the Mother of God” was made, on which, together with Joseph Stalin, Soviet marshals were depicted. The presentation took place during the awarding of the Prokhorovskoye Pole literary prize in the Belgorod Region. Alexander Prokhanov compared the Soviet historical figure to Moses and Mao Zedong, calling him a victorious leader, a leader with a flag of victory. Authors of the article on bbc.com, Mikhail Poplavsky and Olga Alisova, reported that the Belgorod Metropolis denied involvement in the divine service on the Prokhorovsky field and spoke out against defining the image as an icon, since the people appearing on it were not canonized as saints. At the same time, the icon does not violate the canons of the Church, insofar as these characters are not depicted as saints - without halos, and are located under the omophorion (protection) of the Virgin. In June, Alexander Prokhanov presented the icon in the Saratov region, which again led to a negative reaction from the local Orthodox diocese. ==Club members==

According to the club, its members include : • Zhores Alferov • Vladimir Bortko • Sergey Glazyev • Mikhail Delyagin • Aleksandr Dugin • Maxim Kalashnikov • Mikhail Leontyev • Ivan Okhlobystin • • Archimandrite Tikhon • Maksim Shevchenko • Vladimir Ovchinsky == Opening of a branch of the club in the DPR ==

On June 14, 2014, in Donetsk, on the territory of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, a branch of the Izborsky Club, the was opened and its first meeting was held, attended by , Andrey Purgin, Pavel Gubarev, Dmitry Muza, Sergey Baryshnikov, Father Iona (Kovalev) and Kirill Cherkashin. The public figure of the Donetsk People's Republic, Pavel Gubarev, said that "The club will include well-known experts, doctors of science, candidates of science who will help solve the state problems of Novorossia". Donetsk historian Artyom Olkhin was elected as the executive secretary of the club. According to Gubarev, initiative to create belonged to the head of the Izborsky club, Alexander Prokhanov. == References ==