Almost everything about Svetlana Lada-Rus, one of the most influential opposition figures in Russia, defies conventional expectations of who a worthy opponent of President Vladimir Putin should be.
Media headlines have branded her a “conspiracy theorist,” a “reptilian fighter,” a “healer,” a “fraudster,” a political party founder and a wannabe president.
In many ways, all of those labels apply. An elusive occult healer whose worldview is a dizzying melange of Russian nationalism, Soviet nostalgia, anti-Western conspiracy theories and pagan spirituality, Lada-Rus is easy for skeptics to write off as a fringe figure.
But she is also a rare exiled politician still capable of mobilizing a base of loyal supporters inside Russia at a time of ever-escalating repression and internet censorship.
Lada-Rus’ followers have taken center stage in some of the most significant resistance campaigns in wartime Russia, including historic protests in the republic of Altai, a recent standoff between Siberian farmers and the authorities and even the nationwide campaign for the return of mobilized troops from Ukraine.
