Religious issues and persecution: Bimonthly Digest November 15-30
28.11.2025 – Police raid in a Muslim prayer house in Elektrostal
Sova – On November 25, 2025, in Elektrostal near Moscow, employees of the Center for Counteracting Extremism of the Main Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in the Moscow Region, the Main Military Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia, the Prosecutor’s Office, the Criminal Investigation Department and the State Traffic Inspectorate, riot police and Rosgvardia conducted a comprehensive inspection of the local religious organization of Muslims. People’s guards also took part in the raid.
28.11.2025 – Russia’s Muslim population grows
TVP world-
28.11.2025 – A Muslim organization was liquidated in Sergiev Posad
Sova – On November 22, 2025, it became known about the liquidation of the local Muslim religious organization “Mahalla № 2708” and the closure of its prayer house in Sergiev Posad.
The court made such a decision, satisfying the claim of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation. The reason for liquidation was “formal signs”.
The prayer house operated for 23 years. The organization was headed by Arslan Sadriev, a native of Sergiev Posad, a theologian.
26.11.2025 – “Reason cannot accept criminal prosecution for acts of mercy”
JW- Five months ago, Muscovite Mariya Pankova, 51, welcomed her husband, Sergey Tolokonnikov, at the gates of the penal colony where he had served a sentence for his faith. Now she herself has been punished — a fine of 500,000 rubles. This decision was announced by the Savyolovskiy District Court of Moscow on November 26, 2025.
“At the start of the trial, [the prosecutor] responded to my statement that I completely did not understand the charges against me by saying that my lawyer could explain everything if something was unclear. But the lawyer asked the same question… There was no answer; we never received one,” Mariya said in her final statement. The prosecutor requested that the believer be sent to a penal colony for 2.5 years for attending Christian worship services.
25.11.2025 – New searches of Jehovah’s Witnesses — This time in Armavir and its environs
JW – In the early morning of November 19, 2025, a raid was carried out against local Jehovah’s Witnesses in Armavir and the village of Konokovo. At least five people were searched and interrogated.
The criminal case was initiated by Vera Moskovaya, an investigator of the Investigative Committee. Two believers — Daniil Koval, 47, and Viktor Vikulyev, 35, — are suspected of organizing the activities of a liquidated organization (Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code).
The number of Jehovah’s Witnesses persecuted in the Kuban has reached 40. One of them, pensioner Valeriy Baylo, died in prison due to the failure to provide him with medical care.
25.11.2025 – Pastor Nikolai Romanyuk has been sentenced
Sova – He was sentenced to four years in prison and a three-year ban on pastoral activity for his anti-war preaching.
On September 3, 2025, the Balashikha City Court of the Moscow Region sentenced the 63-year-old pastor of the Church of Christians of the Evangelical Faith “Holy Trinity Church” Nikolai Romanyuk to four years of a general regime colony and a three-year ban on pastoral activity. He was found guilty under subparagraphs “b” and “c” of Part 2 of Art. 280.4 of the Criminal Code (public calls for activities directed against the security of the state, carried out using official position and the Internet).
24.11.2025 – In another City in Rostov Region, Jehovah’s Witnesses faced persecution
JW – On November 17, 2025, searches and interrogations were carried out in the homes of at least four believers from Bataysk. One man was placed in a temporary detention center, two days later he was released.
Bataysk became the fifth city in the Rostov region (along with Rostov, Taganrog, Novocherkassk, Gukovo) where Jehovah’s Witnesses are persecuted for their religion. This began in the region in 2011 in Taganrog, when the Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case against sixteen of Jehovah’s Witnesses for reading the Bible, singing and praying together.
24.11.2025 – Jehovah’s Witness was detained in Bataisk after a search
Sova – On November 17, 2025, the security forces searched the homes of at least four Jehovah’s Witnesses from Bataisk, after which one of the believers was placed in the IVS. Presumably, a case was opened against him under Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code (organization of the activities of an extremist organization and participation in it).
The name of the detainee, as well as the reason for his criminal prosecution, are unknown. The election of a preventive measure to Jehovah’s Witness has not yet been reported.
21.11.2025 – In Vyselki, woman, 67, convicted for her faith.
JW – In the Krasnodar Territory, on November 19, 2025, the trial of Yelena Gadrshina concluded. The court found her guilty of participating in the activities of an extremist organization. For peacefully practicing her faith, Judge Ruslan Teplukhin sentenced the elderly woman to a two-year suspended term.
Yelena Gadrshina has been married for 45 years and has an adult daughter. She worked as an accountant for many years. Because of her beliefs, she was among the believers whose homes were searched in February 2022. A criminal case was opened against her, and her bank accounts were frozen. For nearly two years, she had to defend her good name in court.
20.11.2025 – Resident of Birobidzhan given a 2.5-year suspended sentence.
JW – On November 14, 2025, the court gave Igor Prityko, 55, a suspended sentence, recognizing him as a participant in the activity of an extremist organization. The believer pleaded not guilty and called the prosecution an expression of “intolerance toward religious beliefs.”
“The nature of my work requires that I communicate a lot with people, and I try to focus on the positive traits of a person. This helped me… gain a reputation as a reliable partner and a person easy to talk to,” testified Prityko, who has changed professions in the field of construction several times throughout his life. “Helping people find hope in the wonderful future promised by God, I became the happiest person. All this, Your Honor, is my contribution to maintaining peace in society,” he added, highlighting that his way of life is incompatible with extremism.
15.11.2025 – Putin honours protestant leaders with unity award
CNE news – President Vladimir Putin has awarded two leaders of Protestant churches. Sergey Ryakhovsky and Oleg Goncharev received state awards for promoting national unity. The Russian president praised prominent religious leaders for their contribution towards harmony and a united nation.
On National Unity Day, November 4, most people in Russia are not entirely sure what the nation is celebrating exactly. For years, this date has been a remembrance of the bloody Russian Revolution that took place in October according to the old Russian calendar.
