Putin and the Sorcerer's Stone

Russian President, Mysticism, and the Occult

Vladimir Putin recently visited Mongolia. Surprisingly, this is already the Russian president’s third visit to the country in the past 10 years. In Moscow, the trip has sparked a wave of rumors. Public opinion leans towards one plausible explanation: a secret visit to the powerful Mongolian shamans. Among Russia's elite, occultism is quite popular – and in the context of the war, the fascination with the supernatural is gaining momentum.

A month ago, Vladimir Putin traveled to Tuva, a small region in southern Russia known as the homeland of former defense minister Sergey Shoigu, and also as a region with very strong shamanic traditions. Putin spent several days there – the official reason given was to conduct a patriotism lesson at a local school. From there, Putin flew to neighboring Mongolia. The official reason for the visit was to attend celebrations marking the 85th anniversary of the military conflict between Mongolia and the USSR on one side and Japan on the other.

Putin with Mongolian President

Putin spent two days in Mongolia. The main topic of discussion around this visit, of course, was whether Mongolia would dare to arrest Putin, as demanded by the International Criminal Court, and extradite him to The Hague. When the visit ended, and Putin calmly flew back home, a new question arose in Moscow – what was the real reason for his visit? Is Mongolia really such an important foreign policy partner at this moment? What exactly did Putin want to achieve?

The version discussed by sources close to the Kremlin: shamans. Neighboring Mongolia and Tuva are considered the homeland of the most powerful shamans.

Vladimir Putin has long been known for his special relationship with mysticism. It seems he combines an interest in both Orthodox mysticism and pagan traditions.

Putin and the Elders

Back in 2014, during one of his public speeches, Putin made a rather strange gesture. While attempting to make a joke, he suddenly mentioned the devil—and immediately, almost instinctively, crossed his mouth. This is a fairly common gesture—for a Russian from the 18th century. Nowadays, no one in Russia does this—communist rule and the 20th century wiped out all the Orthodox superstitions that once existed. So, where does Putin’s habit come from? There’s only one explanation, a Kremlin insider once told me: the president spends a lot of time in the company of so-called elders (‘startsy’)—monks from the Valaam Monastery, revered Orthodox mystics in Russia.

Putin visiting Valaam

Upon closer inspection, today’s elders have little in common with the “holy fathers” who once lived in Orthodox monasteries. One of them, Elder Zosima, for example, was portrayed by Dostoevsky in The Brothers Karamazov (an esteemed elderly monk trying to guide the novel’s main characters onto the path of righteousness).

However, the ancient tradition was clearly interrupted. In the 1920s, the Bolsheviks executed all the true elders, leaving no sacred knowledge to pass on to future generations. And during that period, the Valaam Monastery was used as a prison camp for war invalids, who were sent there from large cities. A new generation of elders emerged in Russia around the time of the Soviet Union’s collapse—and because the church in the USSR was always closely linked to the KGB, many of these holy fathers turned out to be former agents of the Soviet secret services. This makes it easy for Vladimir Putin to find common ground with the elders—they are kindred spirits in every sense.

Putin meeting the elder

The new generation of elders diligently imitates all the signs of holiness, copying the manners of hermits from centuries past—including the habit of crossing one’s mouth when mentioning the devil. They’ve also developed new mystical rituals—many members of the Russian political elite believe in them (or at least pretend to, for the sake of their careers).

Putin and the Shamans

Just 30 years ago, every member of the Russian political elite was an atheist, as the Communist Party demanded. However, things have since changed, and their newfound spirituality varies depending on ethnicity. Among Vladimir Putin’s entourage, there are Jews who have become deeply religious, as well as Muslims. But it was Sergey Shoigu who played a particularly special role—he has held the position of defense minister for the last 12 years and before that was the minister for emergency situations. It was Shoigu who first introduced Putin to the world of shamans.

The former minister hails from Tuva. Putin and Shoigu frequently traveled together back in the 2000s, with Shoigu often acting as Putin’s personal tour operator, organizing exclusive trips to Russia’s most remote regions. One memorable trip was to Tuva in 2009, where Putin famously rode a horse bare-chested and swam across a mountain river using the butterfly stroke. Since then, Putin and Shoigu have vacationed together in Tuva in 2017, 2018, and 2021 (at least, according to official Kremlin press releases).

Putin and Shoigu in Tuva

It was during these trips that Shoigu and Putin first participated in shamanic rituals, which captivated the Russian president just as much as Orthodox mysticism.