Religious issues and persecution – Bimonthly News Digest April 01-21
20.04.2026 – After nearly three years behind bars, Alexandr Dolganov released
JW- On April 17, 2026, Aleksandr Dolganov was released from a penal colony, where he had been serving a sentence as part of persecution for his faith. His release took place in a small family circle: the 37‑year‑old man was met by his wife, Mariya, and his father.
Aleksandr is a native of Tolyatti. From an early age he was interested in radio electronics and later trained as an electrical fitter. These skills proved useful in the colony, where Aleksandr was assigned work as an electrician.
In addition, he helped with various maintenance tasks to keep the prison facilities in order. The believer earned a good reputation: he was respected both by fellow inmates and by members of the administration.
20.04.2026 – “I was presented as member of extremist organization.”
JW – The FSB Directorate for the Jewish Autonomous Region continues to persecute the families of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
On April 15, 2026, a search was conducted at the home of Marina Shulyarenko. Her husband, Sergey, a prisoner of conscience, has been behind bars since December 2022.
Early in the morning, as usual, Marina Shulyarenko left home for work. She was unexpectedly stopped by an FSB officer who introduced himself as Denis Sergeyevich Krupetskiy. He showed her a court order authorizing operational‑search measures at her home address. After that, a search was carried out, during which security officers seized mobile phones, personal notes, a Bible, and electronic data storage devices.
17.04.2026 – New sentence for Jehovah’s Witnesses in the Moscow Region: suspended terms ranging from two to six years
JW- On April 14, 2026, the Taldomskiy District Court of the Moscow Region sentenced Galina Inkina, 72, and 44‑year‑old Dmitriy Mladov to two and six years of suspended imprisonment, respectively.
Galina was born in the Urals into a large family. For more than 20 years she worked as a laboratory technician at a glass factory, and later as a social worker and a cafeteria attendant. After undergoing cancer treatment, she was forced to leave her job.
Dmitriy grew up in the city of Kandalaksha on the coast of the White Sea. As a child, he was deeply impressed by the nature of the Kola North, in which he saw evidence of God’s existence. This sparked his desire to read the Bible.
14.04.2026 – Data on those who attended Easter services in 2026
Sova – On April 12, 2026, the Russian Orthodox Church celebrated Easter – the Resurrection of Christ. Here are statistical data of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Rosgvardia on visiting churches on the holiday.
According to the official representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia Irina Volk, night festive services were held in more than 7,400 settlements. The number of participants in these services is not reported.
14.04.2026 – Security forces disrupted a Buddhist festival in Moscow
Sova – On April 6, 2026, police officers arrived at the Moscow DK “Rassvet”, where the “Buddhist Festival of Good Luck” was held, and detained the organizers and several monks. Several festival events had to be canceled.
The organizers believe that the reason for the visit of the security forces was the book sold at the fair by Telo Tulku Rinpoche (Erdni Ombadykov), a former shajin Lama of Kalmykia, who left Russia in 2022 and was recognized as a foreign agent.
Eyewitnesses of the incident noted that “books of foreign agents can be sold in the Russian Federation. If there was no marking, it’s just a fine. It’s not to drag everyone.”
09.04.2026 – The sentence of two Jehovah’s Witnesses from Saransk was approved
Sova – Believers Mikhail Shevchuk and Alexander Neverov were found guilty under Part 1 of Art. 282.2 OF THE CRIMINAL CODE. The first one was sentenced to six and a half years in prison, and the second one was sentenced to seven years in prison. The appellate court upheld the verdict.
On April 9, 2026, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Mordovia approved the sentence of Jehovah’s Witnesses Alexander Neverov and Mikhail Shevchuk.
09.04.2026 – A resident of Kuban was fined for organizing a prayer room in his house
Sova – On March 11, 2026, it became known that a 42-year-old resident of the Abinsky district of the Krasnodar Territory was prosecuted for “illegal missionary work”.
He was fined under Part 4 of Art. 5.26 of the Administrative Code (missionary activity with violations of the legislation on freedom of conscience, freedom of religion and religious associations) for organizing a prayer room in his own house and holding religious meetings and preaching there.
The police arrived at one of these meetings.
09.04.2026 – The State Duma wants to oblige religious organizations with a monthly income of more than 1 million to use cash registers
Sova – On March 31, 2026, the draft law prepared by the government “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation (in terms of improving the control of non-cash payments)” was submitted to the State Duma for consideration.
The bill, in particular, obliges religious organizations with an income of more than one million rubles per month to use cash registers.
In accordance with the current legislation, religious organizations are exempt from the use of cash registers. If the bill is adopted, this benefit will remain only for those religious organizations whose monthly income does not exceed one million rubles.
08.04.2026 – A believer from Omsk was fined for reposting the materials of the “New Generation”
Sova – On March 26, 2026, the Soviet District Court of Omsk fined a local resident Sergei Konovalov for republishing the materials of a recognized undesirable religious organization.
The court found Konovalov, a parishioner of the Church of Christians of the Evangelical Faith (Pentecostals) “Source of Life”, guilty under Art. 20.33 of the Administrative Code (participation in the activities of a foreign or international organization in respect of which a decision was made to recognize its activities as undesirable on the territory of the Russian Federation) and imposed a fine of five thousand rubles.
09.04.2026 – The Muslim community of Stupino was found innocent in “illegal missionary work”
Sova – On April 7, 2026, the Stupinsky City Court of the Moscow Region closed the case of “illegal missionary work” against the Muslim community of the city.
Earlier, the magistrate’s court found the local religious organization of Muslims not guilty under Part 4 of Art. 5.26 of the Administrative Code (implementation of missionary activities with violations of the legislation on freedom of conscience, freedom of religion and religious associations), but the city prosecutor’s office filed a protest against this resolution. Now the city court confirmed the decision of the magistrate’s court.
What caused the administrative protocol to be drawn up is not reported.
07.04.2026 – “You shouldn’t be here” — Danil Suvorov released
JW – On April 7, 2026, 30-year-old Danil Suvorov was released from a penal colony in Mordovia. He spent more than 4.5 years behind bars. The believer served his sentence 1,500 kilometers from home, far from family and friends. Many people traveled from afar to meet him on that day.
Before the criminal prosecution, Danil worked as a sales assistant in a tool store. In August 2021, his home was searched, and he was charged with extremism for conversations on Bible topics. In the summer of 2023, the court sentenced him to 6 years imprisonment.
For almost 3 of those years, Danil was kept in a special block of a pretrial detention center — often in solitary confinement and without visits. He was then transferred to a penal colony, where he remained until his release.
There he worked in the sewing workshop and had a reputation as a conscientious worker. According to Danil, one of the prisoners said about Jehovah’s Witnesses: “You are the kind of people who definitely shouldn’t be here.”
07.04.2026 – The prosecutor’s office suspended the construction of a rural mosque in Udmurtia
Sova – On January 26, 2026, it became known that the prosecutor’s office suspended the construction of the mosque in the village of Karakulino, Karakulin district of Udmurtia.
The site for construction was provided to the religious organization “Mahalla of Malopurginsky District” in the summer of 2023. At the same time, the district administration changed the type of permitted use of this site without public discussion – initially it was supposed to build a school here.
07.04.2026 – Omsk pastor Moskvitin was sentenced to three years in a colony
Sova – On April 2, 2026, the Kormilovsky District Court of the Omsk Region convicted Pastor Stanislav Moskvitin.
03.04.2026 – The case of 10 Jehovah’s Witnesses was submitted to court in Tomsk
Sova – Vladimir Pushkov is accused of organizing the activities of an extremist organization, the rest – of participating in it.
On March 30, 2026, the Kirovsky District Court of Tomsk registered the case of 10 Jehovah’s Witnesses. On April 3, the SU Investigative Committee of Russia in the Tomsk region confirmed that it had completed the investigation, and the case was referred to the court.
02.04.2026 – Sentenced for arson of a mosque in Usinsk
Sova – On April 1, the 1st Western District Military Court convicted Anna Molkova, a 20-year-old resident of Usinsk.
The court found her guilty under paragraph “a” of Part 2 of Art. 205 of the Criminal Code (committing a terrorist attack by a group of persons by prior conspiracy) and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
