Russian court says fictional plot to destroy the USSR is extremist

A court outside Yekaterinburg has declared a fictional plot to destroy the USSR to be extremist.

According to the court’s ruling, residents in the city of Asbest this past spring started finding in their mailboxes copies of a two-sided leaflet: one side contained the so-called “Dulles’ Plan to Destroy the USSR (Russia)” and the other side was a document titled “Last Wishes for ‘Ivan.’” Agents at the Federal Security Service (FSB) sent the leaflets for expert analysis, which later confirmed that the text aimed to “incite hatred and hostility against representatives of the Russian state.” 

The Dulles’ Plan, or Dulles Doctrine, is part of a conspiracy theory that former CIA chief Allen Dulles developed a plan for United States to destroy the Soviet Union during the Cold War by secretly corrupting its cultural heritage and moral values. The idea originated in a 1971 novel by Anatoly Ivanov, gaining popularity after the fall of the USSR.

Judge Alexander Voznyuk ruled that the FSB’s expert analysis shows convincingly that the text of the “Dulles’ Plan” is extremist. A copy of the court’s decision was sent to the Justice Ministry, and the “Plan” will be included in the federal government’s list of extremist materials.