&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "‘Please help’: Russian widows turn to clairvoyants to contact husbands killed in war")
Russian families are increasingly turning to clairvoyants, tarot readers and other occult practitioners in search of answers about relatives killed or missing in the war in Ukraine.
According to a report by The Telegraph, one woman, identified as Tatyana, recently posted a photograph of Sergei, a soldier listed as missing in action since June 12, 2026, on Vkontakte, Russia's equivalent of Facebook. “Please help,” she wrote, saying she was posting at the request of Sergei's mother. The family was seeking help from mystics and mediums to determine his fate.
The Telegraph reported that some families pay practitioners to try to communicate with servicemen believed to have died, while others consult card readers about whether missing soldiers are still alive or seek protective spells. The growing demand comes as Russia's military losses mount and the effects of the war increasingly affect families at home.
Data cited by Russian business daily Vedomosti showed that 103,000 people downloaded astrology, fortune-telling and tarot applications from RuStore, Russia's equivalent of Google Play, between January and July this year. The figure was 96 per cent higher than during the same period last year.
A survey by state pollster VTsIOM earlier this year found that about 85 per cent of Russians had experimented with some form of magic. The pollster linked the trend to “geopolitical and economic challenges in Russia and worldwide”.
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“Especially against the backdrop of military threats, belief (regardless of which gods are involved) turns into a tool of psychological defence,” VTsIOM said.
The practices have faced criticism from Russian authorities and the Russian Orthodox Church. However, demand for what Russian media describe as “esoteric services” has continued to grow during the war. The market was estimated at about 2.4 trillion roubles, or more than £20 billion, last year and has been expanding by an average of 20 to 30 per cent annually, according to Russian media reports.
