The shaman who planned to battle Putin's ‘evil spirit’ has been locked up in a mental ward

Alexander Gabyshev, the Yakut shaman who set out to travel on foot to Moscow, where he planned to “exorcise” Vladimir Putin’s spirit, has been sent for psychiatric observation, according to health officials in Yakutia. Police arrested Gabyshev at the border between Buryatia and the Irkutsk region on September 19.

“In the event that any abnormalities are detected in the patient, we are prepared to provide the appropriate medical assistance. If necessary, social services could be involved,” the local Health Ministry said in a press release.

A Yatkutsk resident, Alexander Gabyshev calls himself a “warrior-shaman.” In March 2019, he started walking to Moscow, where he vowed to perform an “exorcism” that would banish President Putin’s soul from the capital. Along the way, supporters joined Gabyshev and started walking with him. He was expected to arrive in Moscow sometime in 2021.

Previous arrests of Gabyshev’s supporters sparked unpermitted protests in Ulan-Ude, which quickly evolved into demonstrations demanding the cancellation of recent mayoral elections.