The hero of Russia's 'antivaksery' no-vaxers unmasked

Anton Amantonio, real name Tal Ilani (Anatolij Uljanovskij), is an Israeli Russian linked to esoteric cults. The authorities have banned his book against vaccines. He is also linked to the Rudaševskij sect, accused of sexual abuse and paedophilia propaganda.

Moscow (AsiaNews) - He is the hero of the "anti-vaxxers" in Russia. Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, he has become one of the most popular web personalities in Russia, under the pseudonym "Anton Amantonio". He claims to be an electrical engineer living in Israel. In February 2020, he had also published a book, later banned and thus increasing his notoriety, especially in connection with the vaccination campaign. Russian online security specialist Vladimir Kelaskin carried out an investigation that led to his identity being unmasked, revealing a personality linked to esoteric cults.

Amantonio's book, published by AST, is entitled 'Vaccinate, yes or no? What do you want an injection to be! The myths about vaccination'. The content is entirely devoted to the hypothetical damage of vaccination, with hundreds of references to scientific publications, which gives it particular authority with readers. According to the text, 'the negative effects of vaccines are very rare, but this is a lie, because no one has carried out adequate research, and in reality the consequences occur in one in 50, not in 100,000 or one million as they would have us believe'.

The book was published with a print run of 2,000 copies, which were sold out within a day. Russian doctors, such as the well-known paediatricians Sergei Butrij and Fyodor Katasonov, immediately took to the field, bewildered at how an anonymous blogger could be believed on such a vital issue. The popular military doctor Aleksej Vodovozov had approached the publisher, asking if they were prepared to 'take responsibility for the deaths such a book will cause'.

The publisher published subsequent editions of the text with the warning that 'this is not a medical manual', until the authorities forced AST to stop distributing it, although sales of its electronic version continue to this day. In any case, Amantonio was far too early, since the big vaccination campaign did not actually begin until 2021.

New heroes of the anti-vaxxers have therefore appeared, such as the popular actress Maria Šukšina, whose YouTube channel was blocked last December. Amantonio also published a new private version of the book in November 2021, this time with an initial print run of 12,000 copies, as well as gathering hundreds of thousands of supporters on Instagram and Telegram channels.

Recently, texts by Kelaskin, a Russian specialist living in Austria, have appeared on various internet platforms, revealing the true identity of Amantonio and his wife. They are two Israeli Russians, Tal Ilani (Anatolij Uljanovskij) and Ruzana Melenkovič, who have been involved in esoteric activities for many years. At the end of the 2000s, they translated into Hebrew a book by Klaus Jole, "The Messenger. A true love story', and around 2010, Ilani was accused of relations with the Rudaševskij sect, under investigation for sexual abuse and propaganda of paedophilia. Amantonio himself had published information on the web about the 'salvation from persecution' of some members of the sect.

The members of the group call themselves 'anastasists' or 'kedrozvony', names that indicate forms of 'escape from mortal reality'. His wife Ruzana even has a medical licence in Israel, and works in a polyclinic in the city of Safad. Kelaskin's investigations are intended to open everyone's eyes to the 'odious figure of Anton Amantonio', with whom no one has so far been able to speak directly since he began spreading his no-vax messages well before the Covid-19 pandemic. Now he is amassing a real fortune with his esoteric messages, which are gathering more and more followers among Russians all over the world and beyond.

• russia
• moscow
• no-vax
• esoterism
• pandemic
• covid-19
• vaccines