Religious issues and persecution: Bimonthly Digest August 16-31
29.08.2025 – Occupied Ukraine: Criminal case against Jehovah’s Witness “leader”
Forum 18 – Russian officials in occupied Donetsk Region arrested and charged a man identified only as K. for being a “leader of the banned religious organisation Jehovah’s Witnesses”. The Russian-controlled Donetsk Supreme Court said he had been active in the organisation the Russians deem “extremist” between 2018 and 2023. A Donetsk court ordered two months’ pre-trial detention. If convicted, he faces up to six years in jail. “No individual should be criminally charged or detained simply for practising their religion”, UN Secretary-General António Guterres declared in a May report on Russian-occupied Ukraine.
On 26 August, the Russian-controlled Donetsk Supreme Court announced that a man it identified only as K. is facing criminal charges of “participating in a banned extremist organisation”. If convicted, he faces a possible maximum six-year jail term. It described the man – who has been ordered held in pre-trial detention for two months – as a “leader of the banned religious organisation Jehovah’s Witnesses”.
29.08.2025 – New searches and criminal case in Crimea. It is the largest raid against believers of the year yet
JW – On August 27, 2025, Crimean law enforcement officers conducted searches at the homes of local Jehovah’s Witnesses. A criminal case has been opened against one of them, Vladimir Chertov, 52. He is accused of “organizing the activities of an extremist organization.” The man was detained.
A total of 11 searches took place. The raid affected at least 19 believers from Alushta, the villages of Partenit and Lazurnoye. Some of them were led by employees of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation Andrey Kirov, who initiated the criminal prosecution, and Adel Abzalilov. During the searches, electronic devices, communication equipment, books, notebooks and personal records were seized.
29.08.2025 – In Cheboksary, a Muslim student was fined for “illegal missionary work”
Sova – On June 9, 2025, it became known that a case of “illegal missionary” was opened in Cheboksary against a 22-year-old student, a native of Central Asia.
During the warning and preventive measures to prevent the spread of extremist currents in the region, officers of the Federal Security Service and the Prosecutor’s Office of the Moscow district of Cheboksary discovered an illegal prayer room in one of the premises of an educational institution, in which an unregistered religious group united by the ideas of radical Islam operated.
Protocols have been drawn up for the student-organizer under Art. 5.26 (violation of the legislation on freedom of conscience, freedom of religion and religious associations) and 19.7 of the Administrative Code (failure to provide data (information)).
28.08.2025 – In Bryansk, a Baptist was fined for “illegal missionary work”
Sova – In June 2025, it became known that on May 23, the believer Viktor Seregin, who participated in the home Sunday service of Baptist Christians in March, was fined in Bryansk.
The Magistrate’s Court found him guilty under Part 4 of Art. 5.26 of the Administrative Code (implementation of missionary activities in violation of the requirements of the legislation on freedom of conscience, freedom of religion and religious associations) and imposed a penalty in the form of a fine of 10 thousand rubles.
The offense, according to the court, consisted in the fact that Seregin held a service in his house, without permits for missionary activities, and the house had religious literature.
26.08.2025 – The Ministry of Justice listed an Orthodox priest as a foreign agent and a TV channel about Islam
Sova – On August 22, 2025, the Ministry of Justice once again replenished the register of foreign agents. Among them, in particular, were an Orthodox priest and an Islamic TV channel.
Archpriest Andrei Kordochkin, a regular cleric of the Madrid Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church, was counted among the foreign agents. The Ministry of Justice indicated that the priest “spread unreliable information about the decisions made by the public authorities of the Russian Federation and their policies, as well as about the Russian Orthodox Church. He opposed the special military operation in Ukraine”, and also distributed materials of foreign agents and cooperated with recognized undesirable organizations.
22.08.2025 – The case of the pastor of the church of the HVE, who allowed anti-war statements in the sermon, is being investigated in the Moscow region
Sova – The case against Pastor Nikolai Romanyuk was initiated under Art. 280.4 UK.
On October 18, 2024, law enforcement officers detained the pastor of the Holy Trinity Church of Christians of the Evangelical Faith in Balashikha Nikolai Romanyuk. A criminal case was opened against him under Art. 280.4 of the Criminal Code (public calls for activities directed against state security). On October 20, the court placed him in a pre-trial detention center.
During the search, the pastor was hit on the head with a butt, although he did not resist. As a result, he was deaf in one ear. Later it became known that Romanyuk had a microstroke in the detention center.
21.08.2025 – A mosque was set on fire in Bashkiria
Gazeta – An unknown person set fire to a mosque on Sovietskaya Street in the Bashkir city of Blagoveshchensk. This is reported by the Baza Telegram channel.
Eyewitnesses reported that the young man threw a bottle with an incendiary mixture near the entrance to the sanctuary. The area of the fire was 10 square meters, the fire was extinguished. The alleged arsonist escaped.
Footage from the scene was also published by the Telegram channel “Be careful, news”. In the video you can see a fire truck approaching the place of fire.
20.08.2025 – In Obninsk, they tried to set fire to the synagogue again. Suspects in arson have been detained
Sova – On August 13, 2025, in Obninsk, vandals threw three bottles with an incendiary mixture into the synagogue building. The neo-Nazi association NS/WP, banned in the Russian Federation, took responsibility for the arson attempt. A criminal case has been initiated under Art. 213 of the Criminal Code. On August 20, 2025, it became known about the detention of two suspects in arson.
On the night of August 12-13, 2025, unknown persons tried to set fire to a local synagogue in Obninsk, Kaluga region.
It is reported that at least three bottles with an incendiary mixture were thrown into the building, damaging the entrance.
20.08.2025 – Council of Churches Baptist communities banned
Forum18 – of Churches congregations, with prosecutors seeking more. Neither Krasnodar Regional Prosecutor’s Office nor Kurganinsk District Court responded to Forum 18 as to why they had been involved in prohibiting the church’s activities.
Courts in Russia have prohibited the activities of several Council of Churches Baptist communities because of their refusal to seek any form of state registration. Prosecutors are seeking similar bans on at least another three, Forum 18 has found. Once a court ruling enters legal force, church leaders are at risk of fines if they continue to conduct worship services, and bailiffs may seal church buildings, preventing access by congregations.
19.08.2025 – The defense of the shaman Gabyshev managed to reach a decision to mitigate the type of treatment
Sova – On June 20, 2025, the Primorsky Regional Court satisfied the appeal of the defense of the shaman Alexander Gabyshev against the decision of the Ussuri District Court of April 11, 2025 to refuse to transfer Gabyshev to a milder type of treatment.
Earlier, the court had already decided to transfer the shaman to a general psychiatric hospital, but the prosecutor’s office challenged this decision. After re-reviewing the case, the court again refused to mitigate the type of treatment, but the defense challenged this decision, and now Gabyshev will be transferred to a general psychiatric hospital.
On August 5, Gabyshev’s lawyer Alexander Pryanishnikov reported that the shaman, despite the decision on transfer, continues to be in a special type hospital.
19.08.2025 – Ioann Kurmoyarov is recognized as a foreign agent
Sova – On August 15, 2025, the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation included former priest John Kurmoyarov in the list of persons recognized as foreign agents.
The website of the Ministry of Justice reports that he “spread inaccurate information about the decisions taken by the public authorities of the Russian Federation and their policies, as well as about the Russian Orthodox Church. He opposed the special military operation in Ukraine, disseminated inaccurate information aimed at forming a negative image of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation,” and also distributed materials of other foreign agents.
Recall that earlier Kurmoyarov was convicted under the article for “fakes” about the army and could not challenge this sentence.
Kurmoyarov left Russia.
18.08.2025 – The Moscow court sentenced a radio amateur to 3 years in a colony in the case of incitement to hatred because of statements about Muslims
Zona media – The Preobrazhensky District Court of Moscow sentenced 62-year-old Valentin Bushuev to 3 years in a general regime colony in the case of incitement to hatred with the threat of violence. This was reported by Sotavision.
He was also fined 150 thousand rubles on charges of insulting the feelings of believers, but the court released Bushuev from this punishment due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.
According to the prosecution, on June 1, 2023, Bushuev, using the call sign Rv3anu, went on the radio, where he said offensive words that another person recorded and published on YouTube. In September 2023, this recording was transferred to the FSB by the president of the Union of Radio Amateurs of Russia.
