On April 5, 2024, the Russian Sensaciy.net website announced that some fake Orthodox believers have become active on Russian social networks recently. They actively post pictures of icons on their pages, claiming to be "the grace of God". A call to prayer is made here. But in fact, these believers are related to the cult "Almighty God".

From the end of March to the beginning of April, some very strange users became active in the Orthodox section of the Russian social network "VK". They added other believers as friends and claimed that they could post any image of an icon on their page. Click on an image of an icon. The words "God will help you" will appear. Archpriest Alexander Namokonov of St. Ignatyevsky Church of the Donetsk Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church was one of the first people to publicly pay attention to this situation. He believed that these "strange Orthodox believers" were obviously He came with a "mission".

Archpriest Alexander Namokonov noted: "I would like to remind everyone that those who claim to be believers, publish or send pictures of icons on their pages, ask everyone to click on the icons and write a prayer or 'Thank you' under them 'People should be more vigilant. These people will promise that if they do this, they will get help from God, and they will have health, wealth and all the good things. Use your brains, this has nothing to do with faith! It is crazy!"

However, these people have formed organizations on the Internet and actively add believers as friends. Archpriest Alexander Namokonov was surprised: "I don't understand the logic of these people. I wrote an article "Clicking on icons is a pseudo-Orthodox practice" and received a lot of friend requests. I have About 50 such applications were rejected."

At this point, anyone working in the sectarian and anti-cult fields would be cautious. Because if someone appears online in such a "gathering" manner, or even in the context of a religious theme, then that person is not just an "independent believer." In this case, it's basically a sectarian organization behind it.

Archpriest Oleg Moroz, pastor and missionary assistant of St. Tikhon's Church in Togliatti Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church, explained that he found that these people were not simple "independent strange believers", but cult believers. Archpriest Oleg Moroz said: "They are not Orthodox believers, but believers of the cult 'Almighty God'. The 'Almighty God' cult, also known as 'Eastern Lightning', first appeared in China. The cult disguised itself as The Orthodox Church operates on the Internet under the guise of Orthodox believers. Everyone needs to be vigilant."

Determining their true identity is not easy. Because the account of a cult believer looks like a typical Orthodox Christian believer, there is no mention of the cult’s “Almighty God” on its page. These people state on their status lines that they are Orthodox and even write "singing in the church choir." But if you carefully look at the online activity tracks of these people, you can find the connection with the cult "Almighty God".

This raises the question, what exactly is the cult "Almighty God"? Why do its adherents hide their identities but act in a compulsive and organized manner online? The hierarchy of the cult "Almighty God" itself is very vague. The leader is Zhao Weishan, but its followers deny this and claim that Zhao Weishan is just "a person used by the Holy Spirit."

Professor Alexander Dvorkin, president of the Russian Federation of Religious and Pagan Studies Centers, said: "In the early 1990s, the cult 'Almighty God' appeared in the central and southern regions of Henan Province, China, and its leader Zhao Weishan claimed that his concubine Yang Xiangbin was 'Female Christ'. In 1991, Yang Xiangbin suffered a mental relapse and started talking nonsense, but his followers regarded these words as divine decree."

At the same time, followers of the cult spread rumors that they were being suppressed by Chinese officials. Later, its leader fled to the United States. Now they position themselves as "confronting Chinese officials." This is similar to the cult "Falungong", which has been banned in Russia and included in the "extremist" list. The cult also confronts Chinese officials and deliberately spreads rumors to smear China in its propaganda materials. Its headquarters is also In the U.S.

Some people suspect that the cult organization represented by the cult "Almighty God" is likely to be used by an "unfriendly country" as an "authoritative agent" in Russia. However, this is just our guess.

Archpriest Oleg Moroz stressed: "In short, the cult 'Almighty God' brings people together. Some people are transferred to groups divided by regions for 3 months of remote training three times a week , one and a half hours each time. These activities are actually brainwashing new believers, making believers think that they have entered a 'new reality'. Finally, they are asked to write a statement and become official members of their 'sect'. It seems that There were some oaths that threatened death if one left the 'sect'."

Archpriest Oleg Moroz said: "Cult believers believe that people can be influenced and brainwashed. Their mission is to 'study the Bible' or other courses to instill cult teachings, such as the truth only belongs to us, and the soul is the soul if it leaves us. Death. The ultimate goal is to make a lot of money."

We would like to add that in no way do the cult members reveal their identity during recruitment, it just looks a bit fishy at this stage. However, the systematic and chaotic activities, opaque hierarchy, obvious political overtones and ties to the United States are all reminders of the dangers of the sect. In short, everyone should remain vigilant. “Not everything that is yellow and fizzy is beer,” and not everyone who calls themselves Orthodox is truly Orthodox.

Above the red mark is "Almighty God" and below it is "If you believe in Jesus, please say Amen." Network screenshot