‘A perverse game with death’ Russia’s moral guardians are once again trying to ban Halloween. Could this year be different?
Halloween hasn’t even arrived, but Russia’s moral guardians are already on the offensive. Officials and activists have urged teachers to cancel festivities, warning that the holiday goes against Russia’s “traditional values” and could harm children’s psyches. Event organizers have even been reported to authorities for supposedly “promoting Satanism” — now officially banned in Russia. The outlet Vot Tak reported on who’s leading the charge against Halloween this year. Meduza shares a translation.
On October 26, the Public Chamber of Buryatia, a republic in Russia’s Far East, called on local teachers to forgo Halloween celebrations. The body claimed that parents didn’t want their children dressing up as “witches, corpses, skeletons, vampires, ghosts, zombies, or monsters.” It argued that portraying evil characters is inappropriate, given the supposedly high level of aggression among children and adolescents.
“This holiday has no roots in our traditions and distracts children and adolescents from being raised in the spirit of national traditions and spiritual values,” the Public Chamber said in a statement.
Activists in other parts of Russia have issued similar appeals. In Yekaterinburg, the local leader of the Common Cause movement, Alexey Malyonkin — a veteran of Russia’s war in Ukraine — has led a campaign against Halloween, calling it “an undesirable imitation of Western traditions” that causes mental health issues and violates “moral, social, and ethical norms.” Together with certain unspecified “Yekaterinburg parents,” Malyonkin filed complaints with prosecutors against organizers of local Halloween events.
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In occupied Donetsk, Moscow-installed Mayor Alexey Kulemzin urged businesses not to host Halloween events, calling the holiday “alien to Orthodox culture and inconsistent with Russia’s historical and cultural values.” Members of the local “city council” backed him, suggesting that people should instead celebrate “folk heroes” and hold “traditional family gatherings.”
In Krasnoyarsk, city councilman Semyon Sendersky demanded a ban on Halloween after seeing photos from a children’s center in the Republic of Khakassia, where staff had hung dismembered dolls and displayed a “corpse” in a black bag near the reception desk. Following complaints from parents and local media attention, the decorations were removed — but the images so angered Sendersky that he launched a broader attack on the holiday.
“This isn’t a celebration. It’s monstrosity,” he stated. “A perverse game with death and violence, disguised as entertainment.” He argued that Russia has “its own culture and values,” which “leave no room for violence,” and that such imagery fosters “indifference to others’ pain.”
Sendersky’s stance was echoed by Irina Volynets, chair of the National Parents’ Committee. She called Halloween a “dubious” holiday that promotes Satanism, which is now officially banned in Russia, and harms children’s mental health. “I shudder to imagine what might happen if a child sees a fake corpse or the number 666, which people call the number of the beast,” she said.
In the Bryansk region, local lawmaker Mikhail Ivanov, who heads the Orthodox Russia movement, likewise demanded that Halloween be recognized as satanic propaganda. “Both of these phenomena promote the occult and reject the moral foundations on which our country has stood for centuries,” he said.
So far, these calls haven’t gained traction in the State Duma. The only lawmaker to voice support has been Vitaly Milonov, known for his inflammatory statements. He dismissed Halloween as a form of “sectarianism” and suggested its celebrants register as “hereditary druids.”
This fight is nothing new. Conservative politicians and activists in Russia have been waging war on Halloween for years. Back in 2013, officials in the Omsk region blocked celebrations under the banner of “countering extremism.”
Regional authorities cited a study by the Russian Academy of Education, which concluded that Halloween promotes a cult of death and negatively affects children’s learning and development. Representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Education Ministry in several other regions made similar statements around the same time.
By 2015, bans had spread to the Arkhangelsk region and occupied Crimea. Later, restrictions and official “recommendations” against the holiday popped up in various parts of Russia.
Those opposed to Halloween have also tried to replace it with homegrown alternatives. Mikhail Vetrov, head of Russia’s Association of Children’s Goods Manufacturers, suggested holding a “Harvest Festival” instead, while LDPR deputy speaker Boris Chernyshov proposed a “Night of Mysterious Stories.” Neither idea ever caught on.
