Since Kyiv and independent military analysts cannot predict the outcome of the 20-month-old armed conflict between Ukraine and Russia, some Ukrainians are now turning to astrologers, tarot readers, sorcerers and magicians to predict the future, reports AFP, citing Agerpres.

Most of those who consult the Ukrainian clairvoyant Roman Zavidovsky ask him “when the war will end,” he himself told AFP.

Surrounded by candles and a crystal ball, Zavidovsky addresses the people watching his video posted on social networks: “I assure you that total war will end in 2024.” The second most frequent question is: “When will Putin die?”.

The prophecies of the country’s most popular clairvoyants gather hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube and TikTok.

Ukrainian clairvoyants talk about the coming victory

“Victory is just around the corner, but you must understand that it will not be achieved in one day,” magician Serhiy Kobzar said in the video.

AFP notes that in Ukraine, an Orthodox country where religion was suppressed for a long time during the former Soviet Union, interest in various beliefs – including the occult – is growing.

“And the war has a lot to do with it,” explains Lidia Smola, a psychologist and political expert. “People don’t know if the Russians will send again [drone kamikaze] Tomorrow they were worried if there would be bombing… No one can tell them when the war will end,” she added.

“And this uncertainty, unbearable for people, forces them to look for salvation. And for some, horoscopes and forecasts become support~, she also said.

From this point of view, Ukraine is not an isolated case. Great Britain experienced a fascination with the occult during World War II, notes Lidia Smola.

Baba Vanga predicted to the Russians that a certain Volodymyr would become the “Master of the World”

Instead, some Russians are interested in the predictions of the Bulgarian fortune teller Baba Vanga, who several decades ago predicted that a Russian named Vladimir would become the “Master of the World.”

People who call themselves mediums give “simple answers to very complex questions,” Lidia Smola explained. But false hopes “lead to even deeper depression when they don’t come true,” warns a Ukrainian psychologist.

Despite these aspects, after a consultation with Kyiv clairvoyant Valery Shatilovich, Alyona Zakharchenko claims that such a session brings results faster than a meeting with a psychologist.

“If you go to a psychologist, you have to explain your problems for a long time… Valery and I talked for an hour there, and he already understood what worries me,” said this 34-year-old journalist.

Clairvoyants themselves believe that they are responding to a real need. “I feel like I’m helping people in these times,” said Roman Zavidovsky, who uses Tarot cards and his “intuition” in particular.

“Forecasts calm them down. They want to know the future because they don’t know what will happen tomorrow,” he added.

The Ukrainian authorities began to fight against charlatans

But in the face of this momentum, Ukrainian authorities have targeted malevolent psychics who offer distraught families the prospect of reuniting with loved ones lost during the fighting.

A 29-year-old woman who couldn’t hear her husband was contacted by a psychic who convinced her to offer more than $1,100 and gold jewelry to help her find him, police in western Ukraine said in September.

On the streets of Kyiv, advertisements praise “searches” conducted by a clairvoyant and practitioner of black magic.

Magician Serhii Kobzar assured that he does not accept such appeals, since the missing person is in most cases deceased. “I’m all for giving up hope,” he explained.

On the other hand, Valery Shatilovich sees a certain interest in such things. “Maybe the husband is dead and (the wife) won’t find him, or maybe he’s in captivity… But if you see something positive in his future, then she can find hope and motivation to continue his life,” he explained, denying while “abusing the pain” of these people.

Roman Zavidovsky also justifies his approach: “When people come to me, they find a kind of emancipation.”