Dalai Lama’s envoy to Russia resigns after being named ‘foreign agent’ for condemning the war in Ukraine

The Dalai Lama’s representative in Russia, Mongolia, and the CIS countries, Telo Tulku Rinpoche (Erdne Ombadykow), has decided to resign as the Supreme Lama of Kalmykia after the Russian Ministry of Justice named him a “foreign agent.” 

“I wish for the people of Kalmykia and all Buddhists in these difficult times to maintain courage, perseverance, and adherence to the ideals of compassion, love, and non-violence,” he said in a statement.

The Russian Ministry of Justice declared Erdne Ombadykow a “foreign agent” on January 27. Ombadykow left Russia for Mongolia in the fall of 2022, for political reasons. In October, he said on a YouTube broadcast, “The Ukrainian side, of course, is really right — they’re protecting their country, their land, their truth, their constitution, their people. It’s very difficult to say and to accept that Russia is right and that this war is necessary.”