Oleg Torsunov

Public support for Russia's aggression against Ukraine

Oleg Torsunov publicly denies Russia's military aggression against Ukraine, attributing its crimes a positive spiritual interpretation.

• Justification of civilian deaths: victims of Russian missile strikes are presented as fortunate individuals receiving "a little house in the spiritual world" or "better conditions for spiritual practice."
• Denial of Ukrainian identity: urges his followers to renounce Ukrainian identity and not defend their country from the aggressor.
• De facto recognition of occupation: on blagost.online, occupied Ukrainian cities (Donetsk, Mariupol, Sevastopol, Simferopol, Yalta, Yevpatoria, Dzhankoi, Feodosiya) are listed as Russian; Kherson was listed as "Russia" from February to November 2022.
• Physical presence on occupied territories: has systematically visited occupied Crimea since 2014; the visits are documented on the official site torsunov.ru.
• Deliberate concealment of Crimea visits: prior to the full-scale invasion, he intentionally avoided publicizing his visits to occupied Crimea to prevent complications with his entry into Ukraine; in 2016 he was added to the "Myrotvorets" database in connection with this activity.
• Entry into Ukraine facilitated by Ryabikin: until 2022, Torsunov entered Ukraine with the assistance of Pavlo and Halyna Ryabikin — Pavlo Ryabikin served as director of Boryspil International Airport (2017–2020) and head of the State Customs Service of Ukraine (2020–2022); documented lectures include Kyiv (15.12.2021) and Kharkiv (10.08.2021).

The totality of these actions forms a consistent narrative denying the aggressive nature of Russia's war against Ukraine.

Facilitation or incitement to war crimes

Torsunov's lectures — in which he justifies the deaths of Ukrainian civilians from Russian missiles and calls for passivity before the aggressor — create spiritual-ideological grounds for the continuation of Russia's military aggression.

• Theological justification of war crimes: by calling the deaths of Ukrainians "Krishna's will" and "His mercy," Torsunov cultivates among his followers a tolerance for Russia's war crimes.
• Suppression of the will to resist: calls to "stay away" and "not take sides" are aimed at depriving Ukrainians of spiritual support for legitimate self-defense.
• Spiritual legitimization of occupation: systematic visits to occupied Crimea under the guise of religious activity, and the labeling of occupied cities as Russian, de facto support Russia's occupation.

Nuremberg Principles (Principles VI(a) and VII, 1950): public spiritual justification of an aggressive war and its victims may be classified as complicity in a crime against peace. The use of religious authority to demobilize opponents of aggression lends such actions particular social danger.

Spiritual responsibility towards followers

A religious leader who explains the deaths of civilians in missile strikes as "Krishna's will" and "God's mercy" grossly violates the basic principles of spiritual mentorship.

Replacing the principle of ahimsa (non-violence) with theological justification of killing, using religious authority to promote passivity before an aggressor, and depriving followers of the right to self-determination and the defense of their country — constitutes a betrayal of the spiritual tradition and an abuse of disciples' trust.

Manipulation of religion in the interests of an aggressor state

Oleg Torsunov, with a network of Blagost clubs in over 100 CIS cities and an audience of over 1.2 million, has turned Vedic preaching into an instrument for advancing the interests of the aggressor.

• Theological cover for war crimes: Torsunov's lectures create among his followers the illusion that Russian aggression is not a political crime but a spiritual process managed by Krishna.
• Neutralization of anti-war sentiment: calls for "love of all" and renunciation of national identity effectively serve to demobilize opponents of the war in Russian-speaking communities across the CIS and Ukraine.
• Propaganda through a global offline network: Blagost clubs in Ukraine and the CIS have become a channel for spreading propaganda narratives in the format of religious lectures.

Potential legal violations

The actions of Oleg Torsunov fall under the following legal norms:

• Article 436² of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — justification, recognition as lawful, denial of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine: lectures in which Ukrainian deaths from Russian missiles are explained as "Krishna's will" and "spiritual benefit" constitute this offense.
• Article 110 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — encroachment on Ukraine's territorial integrity: the public listing of occupied Ukrainian territories (Crimea, Donetsk, Mariupol, Kherson, and others) as Russian on the official blagost.online resource constitutes this offense.
• Articles 204¹–204² of the Code of Administrative Offences and Article 332² of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — illegal crossing of Ukraine's state border and violation of entry/exit procedures for temporarily occupied territory: systematic visits to occupied Crimea since 2014.
• Article 20 of the ICCPR — prohibition of war propaganda: lectures in which military aggression is de facto theologically justified constitute war propaganda prohibited by an international treaty binding on Russia as a State Party to the ICCPR.

The totality of documented actions provides legal grounds for criminal proceedings in Ukraine. Ukraine is entitled to seek an international investigation into Torsunov's activities through Interpol or within a future special tribunal on Russia's crimes of aggression against Ukraine.

Conclusion

Oleg Gennadyevich Torsunov (Audarya Dhama das) has through his actions:

• systematically denied Russia's military aggression against Ukraine, attributing its crimes a false spiritual interpretation;
• theologically justified the deaths of Ukrainian civilians from Russian missile strikes;
• de facto recognized the occupation of Ukrainian territories through the official blagost.online resource;
• systematically visited occupied Crimea since 2014, reinforcing Russia's de facto control over the territory;
• called on his followers to remain passive in the face of aggression, weakening the will to resist;
• should be publicly condemned by the international Vaishnava community and ISKCON governing bodies.