The head of Russia’s Security Council on Friday apologised for comments made in an article by his deputy earlier this week, in which he referred to the Chabad-Lubavitch movement as a “supremacist cult”, which drew swift condemnation by the country’s chief rabbi.

In an article for the government-owned Argumently i Fakty weekly newspaper calling for the “desatanisation” of Ukraine, assistant secretary of the Russian Security Council Aleksey Pavlov wrote on Tuesday that the Chabad-Lubavitch was one of many hundreds of neo-pagan cults in the country.

Mr Pavlov also wrote that “The main principle of the Lubavitch Hasidism is the superiority of the followers over all nations and peoples,”

The comments were immediately condemned by Russia’s Chabad Chief rabbi Berel Lazar, once believed to be a close confidant of President Vladimir Putin, who penned an open letter to Russian authorities condemning Mr Pavlov’s comments.

Chief rabbi Lazar wrote: “This is a new variety of the old blood libels. And if they are being uttered by a member of the Russian Security Council, this represents a great danger. Therefore, we demand an immediate and unequivocal response from society and from the country’s authorities.”

Chief rabbi Lazar also rejected Mr Pavlov’s assertion that the movement’s followers considered themselves superior to others, noting the organisations extensive charity and interfaith work in Russia and abroad.

Mr Pavlov’s comments caused widespread alarm amongst Russia’s rabbis, of which upwards of 90 per cent practice Lubavitch Hasidism.

In response to the wave of criticism against Mr Pavlov, his superior, Secretary of the Security Council Nikolai Patrushev issued a follow-up statement on Argumenty i Fakty.

He wrote: “The article by Assistant Secretary of the Security Council of Russia, A. Pavlov that was published here included lines that were erroneous about Lubavitch Hasidism.

“I apologise to those who read the article and I wish to note that this analysis does not reflect the personal views of Mr Pavlov and does not in any way represent the official position of the Security Council of the Russian Federation.

“Appropriate work has been done with the author of this article.”

As the Russia-Ukrainian conflict intensified earlier this year, Soviet refusenik Natan Sharansky spoke to the JC in August, warning Russian Jews that they should leave the country as crackdown fears grew.

Last month, Putin warned against Russian Jews leaving the country, which many thousands had done since the start of the war, saying they had a duty to contribute to Russia.

Putin said: “It is very important that while retaining their loyalty to old spiritual traditions, Russia’s Jews make a hefty contribution to the preservation of cultural diversity in our country, to strengthening interethnic concord and the principles of mutual respect and religious tolerance.”