On November 2, 2020, the website of the Russian Ren.tv released news that on the evening of October 27, a fire broke out in the rehabilitation center of the "New Pentecostal" sect in the suburbs of Kaliningrad, Russia, killing three people. Under the guise of rehabilitation for drug addicts and alcoholics, the rehabilitation centre recruits believers and collects money for the "New Pentecostal" sect. A reporter disguised himself as a potential client of the rehabilitation center attended a meeting of the "New Pentecostal" sectarian organization in Moscow.
On the evening of October 27, 2020, a fire broke out in a wooden house on the outskirts of Kaliningrad, Russia, which killed three people, but the specific identities of these people are unknown. The burned-out wooden house, called the House of Life, was founded here three years ago by the New Pentecostal sect. According to neighbors, the "House of Life" is a rehabilitation center for alcoholics and drug addicts, but in fact people do not receive the corresponding treatment, or even the necessary help, they just chant and pray there.
Remnants of the house after the fire reveal some of the details of the place, including the schedule: pray twice a day, at 6 a.m. and 21:30 p.m., with the prayer verse "The flame of the Holy Spirit ignites the love of truth"; every two months there is a change of "parishioners", and weekend priests come to organize activities such as dances and exorcisms.
The registered address of the "New Pentecost" church is an ordinary apartment on Luzhskaya Street, and both the church and the rehabilitation center were registered by Olga Nikonolenkova. The reporter wanted to find out more details about the "House of Life" from Olga Nikonolenkova, but she did not cooperate and tried to hide.
It is understood that Olga Nikonolenkova is only a mid-level member of the church. "House of Life" has many branches in Russia and is affiliated with the "'House of Life' Interregional Church Association" led by Edward Berestin. Edward Berestin, a senior pastor at the headquarters in Vladivostok, worked with friends to develop a so-called rehabilitation program for drug addicts and alcoholics, on the pretext that they worked in the rehabilitation centre for months without compensation. Sergey, a former believer in the House of Life, said: "Every week people have to donate money, and the money donated is to meet personal needs." There was a scandal in the "House of Life" earlier, when during the novel coronavirus pneumonia epidemic, pastors still prayed on a large scale to collect money on the grounds of rehabilitation.
Some experts point out that the "House of Life" personnel are believers in the "New Pentecost" sect, who package priests as charismatic leaders, turn traditional worship into performances, and doctrinal texts. Sectarian Alexander Neviyev pointed out: "The nonsense of the cult's activities is not at all what they call mysterious scriptures. ”
The "New Pentecostal" sectarian movement has no unified center and ostensibly no leader, but currently has more than 300,000 adherents in Russia. Under the guise of rehabilitation for drug addicts and alcoholics, the sect recruited believers for the "New Pentecostal" sect and amassed money.
Anti-cult expert Alexander Dvorkin said: "When a person is in a state of alcoholism and drug abuse, it is easy to be mentally controlled, coupled with the inability of relatives around them to help them rehabilitate from drugs and alcohol, they have to pin their last hopes on the rehabilitation center of the 'New Pentecostal' sect movement." ”
Each so-called rehabilitation centre has its own method of rehabilitation, some of which are radical but not subject to legal restrictions. Because they nominally provide only moral support to those in need of rehabilitation, such centres do not require a medical licence, and their true purpose and methods are unknown.
In some video footage, Russian SWAT forces stormed into a rehabilitation centre in Omsk called "Renaissance", where drug addicts were treated with prayers and exorcisms. Eventually, criminal proceedings were instituted against the relevant personnel of the Center in accordance with russian laws and regulations on harm to mental health.
Alyssa Iusova has been undergoing detoxification treatment at similar institutions for more than a year. When she really knew everything about it, she tried to escape, but it took two years to actually escape.
The cost of rehabilitation treatment in these centres is generally paid for by the loved ones and can be staged. Because what is important for the organizers is not to make an immediate profit, not to charge tens of thousands of rubles at a time, but to put a long line to catch big fish. Moreover, the payment is only transferred to the card without any proof of payment and tax proof.
For those who could not afford it, the sect had them act as free laborers, from stevedores to participants in the organization of riotous rallies. When Ukrainians held anti-government demonstrations in Kiev's Maidan Square in 2014, members of the New Pentecostal sect served as organizers.
According to the sectarian Alexander Neviev, the followers of the "New Pentecostal" sectarian movement are themselves like experiments, and they have become accustomed to following instructions and responding to certain instructions.
The number of followers of the global "New Pentecostal" sectarian movement is growing, and they have become a controlled force that obeys orders. Believers from the "New Pentecostal" sectarian movement once spread across the post-Soviet Union and formed teams to travel to the conflict zone of Donbass in Ukraine. But they also often use rehabilitation centers as a pretext to make people who don't know the truth think that this is really a rehabilitation center for drug addiction and alcohol addiction.
The following is a screenshot of the original video report: