The arrival of British-American social media influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan in Russia has drawn criticism from figures across the country’s political spectrum, from Kremlin critics to pro-government commentators and nationalist bloggers.
The Tate brothers, self-described misogynists who face criminal charges in Romania and Britain, rose to fame as members of the “manosphere,” a loose network of online communities united by an opposition to feminism and the belief that society is biased against men.
Their arrival in Moscow sparked speculation that they could attend this week’s St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).
According to the Kommersant business daily, the Tates’ itinerary includes meetings with business leaders, media representatives, figures from the educational and cultural sectors and “filming content for an international audience.”
“We came to Russia because serious countries deserve to be taken seriously. I want to meet people, see how the country functions, understand how people live, and talk about it based on what I’ve actually seen with my own eyes,” said Andrew Tate.
Among the first critics was Lyubov Sobol, a former ally of late opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who described Andrew Tate as “not a guest of Russia, but of Putin,” adding that his visit was “the best illustration of the Kremlin’s ‘traditional values’.”
“He’s Putin’s guest of honor, no matter how you look at it. They should have made him a key speaker right alongside [U.S. conservative commentator Candace] Owens in the family sessions,” Sobol wrote.
Andrei Pivovarov, a former political prisoner and the former head of Open Russia, wrote that “these days, the only ‘honored guests’ in Russia are criminals.”
“Under Russian criminal law, he should be sentenced to over 10 years in prison for human trafficking, rape and inciting hatred against women. Yet here, he’s being welcomed with kokoshniks and bread,” Pivovarov said.
Yekaterina Mizulina, the head of the pro-Kremlin Safe internet League and the director of the National Center for Children’s Assistance, also lambasted the visit, calling it “absurd.”
“The bloggers are accused in three countries [Romania, Britain, and the U.S.] of forming an organized criminal group for human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and sexual violence, including against children. The nature of the charges is extremely serious,” she wrote.
“If tomorrow the facts of pedophilia and human trafficking are proven, how will our country look after welcoming them with bread and salt,” she continued.
State television commentator Andrei Medvedev described Andrew Tate as a “Nazi and misogynist who gained popularity for his rants about how ‘easy’ modern women are and the moral decay in the West. At the same time, he’s a fan of ISIS’s ‘strict morality’.”
“A wonderful guest. Nothing but bread and salt for him,” he wrote.
Even pro-war bloggers voiced objections to the visit.
Rybar, a widely followed pro-war Telegram channel, called the Tates a “bad pick” and said their presence in Russia was “embarrassing.”
In a post on Thursday, Rybar said the brothers had received “virtually no media attention” in Russian media and suggested SPIEF organizers were seeking to keep them “out of the spotlight to avoid another scandal.”
The channel contrasted the Tates with Owens, whom it described as “the only truly valuable foreign guest.”
Nationalist blogger Roman Antonovsky, who writes under the name “Sons of the Monarchy,” called Tate “a human trafficker, misogynist, Islamist and rapist,” and slammed the visit, writing, “we’re supposedly trying to shake off our Western-worshiping ways, but we keep groveling before some Western clowns.”
“It’s about time Russia codified what “traditional conservative values” actually are. Otherwise, under the guise of defending traditional values, we end up hosting gatherings of esotericists, shamans, sorcerers and astrologers,” he continued.
Media commentator Lara Rzhondovskaya quipped, “The con artist and quasi-pedophile Errol Musk is here. Misogynist Andrew Tate is on the platform. Ah, too bad Charlie Manson didn’t live to see this. He would have been the keynote speaker on family values.”
