Young supporters of Russian President Vladimir Putin have staged several protests this month outside Mormon meeting houses, claiming that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is an “authoritarian sect” with connections to the CIA and FBI.
The protesters are members of the Young Guard, a youth organization of Putin’s United Russia Party. They insist their actions have nothing to do with Mitt Romney, the Republican candidate and Mormon who called Russia the “No. 1 geopolitical foe” of the U.S.
Ekaterina Stenyakina, the co-chair of the Young Guard, says the group was inspired to protest by a recent directive that Putin gave to law enforcement groups and legislators, asking them for ways to regulate the activities of “totalitarian sects.”
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