Religious issues and persecution: Bimonthly Digest September 01-15
15.09.2025 – Arson and pigheads near the Chelyabinsk mosque
Sova – On September 15, 2025, it became known about several videos posted on social networks, in which young people demonstrate a pig’s head left on the territory of the mosque. Most likely, we are talking about the mosque of the village of Chesma in the Chelyabinsk region.
One of the videos is dated August 31, the other – September 12. In a later video, a young man in black clothes and a mask also sets fire to the mosque building. Insults and aggressive comments can be heard behind the scenes.
According to the assumption of one of the Telegram channels that republished these videos, the attackers could be associated with the terrorist neo-Nazi association NS/WP recognized in Russia.
12.09.2025 – A resident of Karachay-Cherkessia was fined for keeping a brochure “How to Accept Islam” in a car
Sova – Rasul Suyunchev was brought to justice under Art. 20.29 of the Administrative Code.
On September 8, 2025, the Zelenchuk District Court of Karachay-Cherkessia fined a thousand rubles under Art. 20.29 Administrative Code (storage of extremist materials for mass distribution) Rasul Suyunchev.
It follows from the court order that a brochure “How to Accept Islam” was found in Suyunchev’s car, which is included in the Federal List of Extremist Materials under number 1920 – this publication was banned in 2013 by the Krasnoyarsk District Court of the Astrakhan Region. At the same time, Suyunchev confirmed that he offered his acquaintances to read the book.
11.09.2025 – “And finally we meet” — Konstantin Sannikov fully served his sentence for faith
JW – After being separated for 5 years, Konstantin Sannikov, 55, father of four, was reunited with his family at the gates of the penal colony in Almetyevsk. On September 10, 2025, he completed the sentence imposed by a court for his religious beliefs as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
“In our letters, my wife, Ira, and I compared being in prison to a long opaque glass,” Konstantin recalls. “It was as if we saw only a silhouette of each other and walked along the glass: she on one side, me on the other. We told each other, “It will end someday.” And finally, we met and hugged.”
11.09.2025 – Five believers arrested after raid against Jehovah’s Witnesses in Saratov
JW – On September 3 and 4, 2025, law enforcement officers conducted searches at at least five addresses of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Saratov and the village of Anastasino. As part of a new criminal case, five believers aged 29 to 58 were detained.
The raid began at about 6 p.m. Law enforcement officers broke into the home of one believer’s family at 1:30 a.m. The Criminal Procedural Code allows a search at night only under urgent circumstances, but in this case the court had given permission at the end of August to carry out the search. FSB officers seized electronic devices and storage media, as well as personal notes.
09.09.2025 – Court in Crimea sent a fourth-generation Jehovah’s Witness to penal colony for 6 years
JW – For decades Viktor Ursu’s great-grandfather, grandfather and father were persecuted for their faith. Now Viktor has been sent to a penal colony for 6 years. Yelena Nikolayeva, judge of the Dzhankoyskiy District Court, announced the verdict on September 8, 2025. The 60-year-old believer was taken into custody in the courtroom.
“I am not a criminal and not an extremist,” Viktor Ursu said. “I have been living in Dzhankoy for more than 50 years, I have been working as a milling machine operator at the same company for 40 years. I look after my parents.” Ursu’s lawyer noted: “I would describe him as a very kind person from the upper working class. He has excellent references from his employer, who was not afraid to provide the court with documents that he was needed as a specialist in the company.”
08.09.2025 – Jehovah’s Witness Vladimir Skachidub released after almost 4 years imprisonment
JW – On September 5, 2025, 63-year-old Vladimir Skachidub left the penal colony where he served time for peacefully practicing his faith. His wife and friends met him when he arrived at the railway station in Tikhoretsk, which is near his native village of Pavlovskaya.
Vladimir has been behind bars since October 2021. He served his sentencein a penal colony in the village of Stenkino, Ryazan Region, which is 1200 kilometers from his home. Skachidub applied for parole, but the court refused him, despite awards he received for conscientious work.
05.09.2025 – Protestant pastor jailed for 2022 anti-war sermon
Forum 18 – On 3 September, Balashikha City Court jailed 63-year-old Pastor Nikolay Romanyuk for 4 years for a 2022 sermon that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was “not our war”. “Yes, I gave a sermon in which I touched on military, albeit forced, murder. I do not retract what I said”, he told the court in his final speech. The court did not answer Forum 18’s question why the judge imposed such a long jail sentence, given his age and health problems. Buddhist leader Ilya Vasilyev’s appeal against his 8-year jail term is due on 10 September.
Protestant pastor Nikolay Romanyuk has become the first person to be convicted of “Public calls to implement activities directed against the security of the Russian Federation, or to obstruct the exercise by government bodies and their officials of their powers to ensure the security of the Russian Federation” for criticising Russia’s war against Ukraine from a religious perspective. Others have been jailed on different specific charges for opposing Russia’s war from a religious perspective.
04.09.2025 – Pastor Nikolai Romanyuk has been sentenced
Sova – 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).
The reason for Romanyuk’s criminal prosecution was an anti-war sermon, which he read on September 25, 2022. The pastor criticized the idea of Pentecostal participation in hostilities.
02.09.2025 – Oksana Chausova, one of Jehovah’s Witnesses from Kursk, released
JW – On August 29, 2025, Oksana Chausova was released after 751 days spent under various forms of restriction of freedom — house arrest, prohibition of certain actions, imprisonment in a pretrial detention center and in a penal colony. Her husband, Dmitriy, also convicted for his faith, could not meet her, as he is still under restrictions.
Looking back, Oksana recalls that the living conditions in the detention center were not easy. The cell was so dirty that it took her several days to clean it. Furthermore, it was so cold that she had to wear warm clothes and even sleep in her jacket.
02.09.2025 – The sentence of Jehovah’s Witness from Chelyabinsk was approved
Sova – The believer Maxim Khamatshin was found guilty of organizing the activities of an extremist organization.
On September 1, 2025, the Chelyabinsk Regional Court left unchanged the sentence of Jehovah’s Witness Maxim Khamatshin, which was handed down on April 3, 2025 by the Soviet District Court of Chelyabinsk. The believer is sentenced to six years in a general regime colony with subsequent restriction of liberty for a year and deprivation of the right to engage in activities related to the leadership and participation in the work of religious organizations, for six years under Part 1 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code (organization of the activities of an extremist organization).
01.09.2025 – Russian-imposed punishments for meeting for worship, sharing faith
Forum 18 – Russian Police and Anti-Extremism Police in occupied Ukraine raided Council of Churches Baptist worship meetings, on 8 June in Krasnodon and on 10 August in Sverdlovsk. Russian-controlled Krasnodon Town Court fined Pastor Vladimir Rytikov a month’s average wages for “missionary activity” for leading his unregistered church. Courts are known to have punished for “missionary activity” 1 person in May, 1 in June, 3 in July and 2 in August. In one case, the Judge ordered destroyed Bibles and hymnbooks seized from Oksana Volyanskaya. Courts also punished at least 3 religious communities.
The Russian occupation authorities continue to raid places of worship, particularly those of the Council of Churches Baptists. Their congregations choose not to seek official registration in any country where they operate. They also refuse to notify the authorities of the start of their activity. Russian officials claim that their exercise of freedom of religion or belief – including meeting for worship or sharing their faith – is therefore illegal.
