Patrushev apologized for the words of his assistant, who called the Hasidim a sect

Secretary of the Security Council Nikolai Patrushev apologized for the words of his assistant Alexei Pavlov, who called the Lubavitcher Hasidim (a branch of Judaism) a sect. Mr. Patrushev also called the statements of his assistant erroneous and said that he had done “appropriate work” with him.

“I apologize to the readers of the publication and would like to note that this interpretation reflects the personal point of view of A. A. Pavlov and is by no means the official position of the Security Council of the Russian Federation,” Nikolai Patrushev wrote in a letter to the newspaper “Arguments and Facts”. According to him, “appropriate work has been done with the author of the article.”

Earlier in Arguments and Facts, Aleksey Pavlov published about the religious situation in Ukraine. In the text, he called the Jewish movement “Chabad Lubavitch” a sect. Russian Jewish Congress complained for material to the Investigative Committee of Russia and the prosecutor’s office. Chief Rabbi of Russia Berl Lazar said that about 90% of the rabbis in the Jewish communities of Russia are Hasidim.

Olesya Pavlenko