Religious issues and persecution – Bimonthly News Digest February 16-28
27.02.2026 – Revocation of citizenship after extremism convictions “gaining momentum”
Forum 18 – Born in Soviet Uzbekistan, Rustam Diarov had his Russian citizenship revoked in February 2025 while he was in jail to punish him for participation in Jehovah’s Witness meetings.
On 17 February 2026, prison authorities released Diarov early on health grounds and by the following evening he was in Uzbekistan. His wife, a Russian citizen, went with him. Interior Ministry authorities have revoked the Russian citizenship of at least 12 Jehovah’s Witnesses and 2 Muslims convicted for exercising freedom of religion.
The practice “has been gaining momentum over the past year”, Jehovah’s Witnesses observe.
27.02.2026 – A resident of Valdai was fined for organizing prayers in his house
Sova – On February 26, 2026, it became known that in Valdai, Novgorod region, a 47-year-old native of Dagestan, Abdulhamid Tagirov, was fined for “illegal missionary work”.
The Magistral Court found him guilty under Part 4 of Art. 5.26 (implementation of missionary activity in violation of the requirements of the legislation on freedom of conscience, freedom of religion and religious associations) for the fact that he converted the second floor of his house into a prayer room, where he prayed every Friday, without notifying the Ministry of Justice of the beginning of the activities of a religious group and without having permits for missionary activities.
24.02.2025 – A Dagestan resident was fined for possession of five banned books
Sova – On January 26, 2026, the Karabudakhkent District Court of Dagestan fined a local resident Islam Hajiyev a thousand rubles under Art. 20.29 Administrative Code (storage of extremist materials for mass distribution).
The reason for the administrative protocol was five banned books, which the court also decided to confiscate as part of the case decision.
According to the resolution, law enforcement officers found a collection of prayers “Fortres of a Muslim” at Hajiyev’s home, the book “Hisnu l-Muslim ad-dua al-ilyaj bi-r-ruka”, which is also one of the editions of “Fortres of the Muslim” by Said bin Ali bin Wahfa al-Kahtani, as well as the publication “Explanation of the Foundations of Faith.
24.02.2026 – Africans converts to the Russian Orthodox Church are lured to Russia, then forced to fight in Ukraine
Bitter Winter – Earlier this month, I happened to be in Kenya on a day when every local radio station and every evening bulletin seemed to circle back to one name: Charles Waithaka Wangari. His funeral—held without a body in Kinuri village, Rugi Ward, Mukurweini—had shaken the country.
The cameras lingered on his mother’s face, on the empty chair where his photograph sat, on the candles placed where a coffin should have been. The grief was raw, but what struck me most was the confusion: how had a promising young athlete, a man who once dreamed of a professional career in Europe, ended up dying on Christmas Day 2025 in a war thousands of kilometers away?
24.02.2026 – The State Duma is again trying to limit worship services in apartment buildings
Sova – On February 13, 2026, another bill aimed at restricting worship services in residential premises was submitted to the State Duma. The developers of the bill were a group of deputies of all factions, except for “United Russia”.
The project proposes to make a number of amendments to the law “On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations” prohibiting worship services and prayer meetings in non-residential premises of apartment buildings.
Conducting divine services and other religious ceremonies in living quarters is allowed only “in order to meet the individual spiritual needs of persons living in them legally”.Missionary activities are prohibited in them without exception.
20.02.2026 – Sixth prison term in a week.
JW – Vitaliy Burik, 54, one of Jehovah’s Witnesses from Kerch and father of a disabled daughter, heard the guilty verdict on February 19, 2026.
The decision was issued by Aleksandr Kovalev, judge of the Kerch City Court. A few days earlier, similar harsh sentences were handed down to believers in Dmitrov, Tver and Birobidzhan.
The day before, the court went through the stages of interrogation of the defendant, closing arguments and final statement in one session. The swift completion of the trial prevented the defense from presenting its evidence.
The judge gave Vitaliy only 15 minutes to prepare for his final statement. After the verdict was announced, he was taken into custody.
18.02.2026 – Searches and torture in Dimitrovgrad — elderly believer hospitalized
JW – A series of violent home searches took place on February 3, 2026, in Dimitrovgrad. Law enforcement officers used brutal force against members of at least three families; Igor Popov, 60, was hospitalized. He and Igor Balashov, 59, were placed under house arrest, while one couple, Aleksandr and Irina Yelizarov, under pretrial detention.
Officers broke into the house of the Popov family early in the morning. When Igor’s wife, Zhanna, opened the door, she was knocked to the ground by a masked officer. As a result, the 57-year-old believer injured her knee.
“That day it was minus 25 degrees outside, so the porch was very cold. I was wearing only a nightgown. They pinned me to the floor. I was shaking from shock and the cold. I didn’t understand who these people were or what they wanted,” she said.
18.02.2026 – Jehovah’s Witness was deprived of Russian citizenship and deported to Uzbekistan
Sova – On February 17, 2026, the Privolzhsky District Court of Kazan released 52-year-old Jehovah’s Witness Rustam Diarov from serving a sentence of imprisonment. On the same day, he was deported to Uzbekistan because he was deprived of Russian citizenship.
Diarov was sentenced to eight years in a general regime colony under Part 1 of Art. 282. 2 (organization of the activities of an extremist organization) and Part 1 of Art. 282.3 of the Criminal Code (financing of extremist activities).
He was sentenced to three other believers on October 25, 2021 by the Trusovsky District Court of Astrakhan. On March 3, 2022, he was approved by the Astrakhan Regional Court, on December 22, 2022, the cassation court tightened him, adding an additional punishment.
18.02.2026 – Jehovah’s Witnesses were arrested in Dimitrovgrad in a new criminal case; believers reported torture
Sova – Alexander and Irina Yelizarov were detained, Igor Balashov and Igor Popov were sent under house arrest in the case initiated under Art. 282.2 OF THE CRIMINAL CODE. The last one is hospitalized.
On February 3, 2026, in Dimitrovgrad, Ulyanovsk region, FSB officers delivered about 10 Jehovah’s Witnesses for interrogation. Four people became accused in the new criminal case, two of them were sent to the pre-trial detention center.
On February 5, 2026, the Leninsky District Court of Ulyanovsk granted the investigation’s request for the election of a preventive measure in the form of house arrest for Igor Balashov, the alleged leader of the Dimitrovgrad community of Jehovah’s Witnesses, accused under Part 1 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code (organization of the activities of an extremist organization).
17.02.2026 – Series of raids on Jehovah’s Witnesses in Ufa: married couple sent to pretrial detention center
JW – On February 11, 2026, searches were carried out at nine addresses in Ufa. Law enforcement officers detained and interrogated 17 people, 2 of whom remain in custody.
Immediately after the raid, five individuals were taken to a temporary detention facility.
Two days later, the court imposed a ban on certain actions on Andrey Gubeev, Sergey Bastaev and Mariya Gareeva, while sending the couple Ruslan and Roza Tazyrov to a pretrial detention center.
17.02.2026 – Because of the donations of the “Falun Dafa” organization, a resident of Krasnoyarsk was accused under Art. 282.3 of the Criminal Code
Sova – According to the investigation, the accused transferred more than 50 thousand rubles to the account of the banned organization in the period from October to November 2023.
On February 17, 2025, the Department of the Investigative Committee for the Republic of Khakassia and the Krasnoyarsk Territory reported on the initiation of a case against a 40-year-old resident of Krasnoyarsk. She is accused under Part 1 of Art. 282.3 of the Criminal Code (financing of extremist activities).
16.02.2026 – Jehovah’s Witnesses from Tver given 6 years for their faith — Court claimed peaceful meetings for worship were extremism
JW – On February 13, 2026, Valeriy Popov, judge of the Moskovskiy District Court of Tver, announced the verdict against three Jehovah’s Witnesses: Valeriy Tolmazov, Aleksandr Kostyuk, and Maksim Barbazyuk. All three received 6 years in a penal colony and were taken into custody in the courtroom.
The men insist that they only peacefully practiced their faith within the law. “I am being judged for what — not stealing; living with my wife for 49 years in peace and harmony, though she does not share my religious views; helping my 96-year-old mother; not swearing; living peacefully with everyone,” Valeriy Tolmazov, a 71-year-old pensioner, addressed the court.
