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.

Russian-controlled courts continue to impose punishments for meeting for worship or sharing faith without Russian permission. Courts are known to have punished for "missionary" activity at least 1 person in May, 1 in June, 3 in July and 2 in August (see below).

On 10 August, Russian Police and Anti-Extremism Police raided the Sunday morning meeting for worship of the Council of Churches Baptist congregation in Sverdlovsk [official Ukrainian name Dovzhansk] in Russian-occupied Luhansk Region. Officers filmed those present (see below).

When the church finished its worship service, police officers searched the home where the church meets. Police told church members they had a search warrant approved by a court as officials suspected the church had weapons. Officers also photographed religious literature they found in the church (see below).

Forum 18 was unable to reach the Russian-controlled police in Sverdlovsk, or the Russian-controlled Luhansk Regional branch of the Police Anti-Extremism Centre (see below).

Also in Russian-occupied Luhansk Region, officials again raided the Council of Churches Baptist congregation in Krasnodon [official Ukrainian name Sorokyne] at Pentecost on 8 June. On 14 July, the Russian-controlled Krasnodon Town Court found Pastor Vladimir Rytikov guilty of "missionary activity" for leading his unregistered church and fined him more than a month's average local wages, though Pastor Rytikov is a pensioner (see below).

"Krasnodon District Prosecutor's Office has been conducting an inspection in Krasnodon and Krasnodon District of the observance of the demands of [Russian] legislation on freedom of conscience and religious associations," Acting Prosecutor of Krasnodon District, Artur Kondratenko, told Pastor Rytikov in a letter summoning him to court. Forum 18 was unable to reach Prosecutor Kondratenko (see below).

Pastor Rytikov appealed against the fine to the Russian-controlled Luhansk Supreme Court. On 29 August, however, it left the punishment unchanged. "The accusations were mainly for refusing to register," Pastor Rytikov wrote after the hearing (see below).

Local Baptists describe the accusation that the church had not notified the Russian authorities of the start of its activity as a religious group as "baseless". They point out that Russia's 1997 Religion Law "makes no connection between the possibility of holding services, religious rites and ceremonies with the action of founding a religious association or submitting notification to the justice agencies" (see below).

Officials at the office of the Russian-appointed Human Rights Ombudsperson for Luhansk Anna Soroka did not answer the phone each time Forum 18 called on 1 September.

On 30 June, the Russian-controlled Starobesheve District Court in Russian-occupied Donetsk Region fined Oksana Volyanskaya one week's average local wages. The Judge also ordered that religious books seized from her be destroyed (see below).

Four other courts in Russian-occupied Donetsk Region are known to have fined individuals for "missionary activity" between 9 July and 6 August (see below).

Under provisions punishing religious communities for failing to give their full, official name under Russian registration, courts are known to have punished at least 1 community in May and 2 in June (see below).

On the same day in June, the same Judge at the Russian-controlled Khartsyzk Inter-District Court in occupied Donetsk Region punished two Protestant churches (both of which have Russian registration) for failing to use their full, official name either on their building or on their literature. A Donetsk court earlier punished a local Jewish and a local Catholic community on the same charges (see below).

Officials at the office of the Russian-appointed Human Rights Ombudsperson for Donetsk Darya Morozova did not answer the phone each time Forum 18 called between 28 August and 1 September.

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" with 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". It is unclear when the man was arrested and if he is being held in Investigation Prison No. 1 in Donetsk.

Russia's serious violations of freedom of religion or belief in occupied Ukraine

Russia seriously violates freedom of religion or belief and interlinked human rights in parts of Ukraine it illegally occupies (about a fifth of Ukraine's territory). Among such violations are:
- illegal annexation of territory and imposition of Russian law violating human rights;
- pressuring, kidnapping, torturing, jailing, and murdering religious leaders;
- stopping meetings for worship, banning and closing religious communities;
- jailing prisoners of conscience for exercising freedom of religion or belief;
- transnational repression;
- banning religious texts and purging libraries;
- "anti-missionary" prosecutions; and
- the broadcasting of disinformation against religious communities and believers.

In a May report to the United Nations Human Rights Council on the situation of human rights in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine (A/HRC/59/67), UN Secretary-General António Guterres repeated earlier UN calls for Russia to respect freedom of religion or belief. "The occupying authorities of the Russian Federation continued to restrict the right to freedom of religion and belief for certain religious communities in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine," he declared.

"No individual should be criminally charged or detained simply for practising their religion, including in the forms of collective worship and proselytizing, in accordance with international human rights law," Secretary-General Guterres insisted. "Religious groups in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine should enjoy access to their places of worship and be able to gather freely for prayer and other religious practices."

Russian-imposed punishments for meeting for worship, sharing faith

Russian occupation authorities are also imposing punishments for meeting for worship or sharing faith without Russian permission.

Russian citizens accused of "unlawful missionary activity" are prosecuted under Russian Administrative Code Article 5.26, Part 4, and can receive fines of 5,000 to 50,000 Russian Roubles. Foreign citizens can be fined 30,000 to 50,000 Roubles under Russian Administrative Code Article 5.26, Part 5. They may also be expelled from the country. Registered organisations (also prosecuted under Part 4) can be fined up to 100,000 Russian Roubles.

The written authorisation required by anyone conducting missionary activity on behalf of a religious group includes "written confirmation of receipt and registration of the notification of the [group's] creation and commencement of activities". The lack of such notification is therefore often taken as evidence of "unlawful missionary activity", even if no group in fact exists.

This is despite a 15 October 2018 Russian Constitutional Court ruling that failure to submit notification of the existence of a religious group does not in isolation constitute an offence under Administrative Code Article 5.26, Part 4 ("Russians conducting missionary activity").

Lawsuits in Russia to ban religious communities' activities are invariably linked to accusations of "unlawful missionary activity". This is apparently both because it can be used as evidence of the de facto existence of a religious group, as in a 2022 Russian Constitutional Court ruling, and because it provides additional grounds for prohibition, given that lack of notification is in itself not enough.

On 27 December 2016, the Plenum of Russia's Supreme Court issued a resolution https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2996partially clarifying the process of prohibiting a religious group's activities, but still leaving much to the discretion of both prosecutors and judges.

According to Point 5, if a group leader has not submitted notification, "the prosecutor has the right to file an administrative claim to prohibit the activities of such a religious association in court". Point 24 states that religious groups' activities may be prohibited on the same grounds that registered religious organisations may be liquidated, ie. "implementation .. of activities prohibited by law, or in violation of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, or with other repeated or gross violations of the law or other legal acts", but also, crucially, that "Based on the specifics of the creation and legal status of a religious group, as enshrined in the Law on Freedom of Conscience, failure to submit notification of the commencement of its activities cannot in itself be grounds for prohibiting the activities of such a group".

Council of Churches Baptist congregations – who are often prosecuted in Russian-occupied Ukraine for "missionary" activity - 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.

Sverdlovsk: Police, Anti-Extremism Police raid Sunday worship meeting

On 10 August, Russian police raided the Sunday morning meeting for worship of the Council of Churches Baptist congregation in Sverdlovsk [official Ukrainian name Dovzhansk] in Russian-occupied Luhansk Region. Officers filmed those present.

When the church finished its worship service, police officers searched the home where the church meets, local Baptists noted the same day. Police told church members they had a search warrant approved by a court as officials suspected the church had weapons. Officers also photographed religious literature they found in the church.

Joining the police on the afternoon of 10 August were officers of the Russian-controlled Luhansk Regional branch of the Police Anti-Extremism Centre. Major Gennady Turko of the Anti-Extremism Centre took a statement from the church's pastor, Pyotr Tatarenko, and from a representative of the owner of the house where the church meets. "During the conversation, attention was mainly on the issues of submitting notification and registration of the church," Baptists noted after the raid. Police left about 4 pm.

No prosecution is known to have been launched against Pastor Tatarenko, local Baptists told Forum 18 on 27 August.

Forum 18 was unable to reach the Russian-controlled police in Sverdlovsk, or the Russian-controlled Luhansk Regional branch of the Police Anti-Extremism Centre on 28 August.

Following an August 2019 police raid on Sunday worship of the Council of Churches Baptist congregation in nearby Krasnodon [official Ukrainian name Sorokyne], Pastor Tatarenko was fined.

Krasnodon: Court fines pastor for "missionary" activity

On 8 June, as the Council of Churches Baptist congregation in Krasnodon [official Ukrainian name Sorokyne] in Russian-occupied Luhansk Region was celebrating Pentecost, the deputy prosecutor and police raided its Sunday morning worship meeting.

"The main issue is the registration of the church!" Pastor Vladimir Rytikov noted. "I explained that for a number of reasons, we do not register. One of the reasons is the duty of the pastor to report to the authorities about the life of church members and about the service in the church, and this is betrayal."

Asked in June if she could explain why Krasnodon District Police took part in a raid on the Baptist Church, the duty officer said only: "We can't." She then put the phone down.

Prosecutors prepared a case against Pastor Rytikov under Russian Administrative Code Article 5.26, Part 5 ("Foreigners conducting missionary activity"). (Why prosecutors brought the case against Pastor Rytikov under Part 5 when he has a Russian passport remains unclear.) Prosecutors handed it to the Russian-controlled Krasnodon Town Court.

On 10 July, the Acting Prosecutor of Krasnodon District, Artur Kondratenko, wrote to Pastor Rytikov (in a letter seen by Forum 18) instructing him to attend court for the hearing on 14 July. "Krasnodon District Prosecutor's Office has been conducting an inspection in Krasnodon and Krasnodon District of the observance of the demands of [Russian] legislation on freedom of conscience and religious associations," Kondratenko told him.

On 14 July, the Judge at Krasnodon Town Court found Pastor Rytikov guilty and fined him 45,000 Russian Roubles. This represents more than a month's average local wages, though Pastor Rytikov is a pensioner.

Pastor Rytikov objected to the punishment. He noted the same day that officials had "falsely made accusations of something that didn't happen, that is what happened to our Lord Jesus Christ, and false accusations were the basis for the sentence". He added: "The prosecutor was the accuser in court, they accused me without presenting either witnesses or facts." He noted that after the hearing, church members prayed for the judges and prosecutors.

Forum 18 was unable to reach Acting Prosecutor Kondratenko or Krasnodon Town Court on 28 August.

Local Baptists describe the accusation that the church had not notified the Russian authorities of the start of its activity as a religious group as "baseless". They point out that Russia's 1997 Religion Law "makes no connection between the possibility of holding services, religious rites and ceremonies with the action of founding a religious association or submitting notification to the justice agencies".

Local Baptists also pointed to the 2 July 2019 Russian Supreme Court guidance on the use of Russian Administrative Code Article 5.26. This declared that "the public circulation of information on specific religious teachings, aimed at informing those around in a neutral way about a religious association and its activity cannot be evaluated as missionary activity".

Local Baptists added: "Thus, preaching Bible truths based on the books of the Bible in and of itself cannot be a sign of missionary activity."

Pastor Rytikov appealed against the fine to the Russian-controlled Luhansk Supreme Court. On 31 July, Supreme Court Judge Olga Bondarenko informed him (in a letter seen by Forum 18) that the appeal would be heard on the morning of 29 August.

More than 50 church members came to Luhansk Supreme Court to support Pastor Rytikov at the appeal hearing. The Court left the fine on Pastor Rytikov unchanged, local Baptists noted.

"The accusations were mainly for refusing to register," Pastor Rytikov wrote after the hearing. "I explained that registration represents betrayal by pastors and members of the church, and this is a great sin before God. Judas betrayed Christ and died. I do not want to be a traitor. The judge asked how come others register. I answered that everyone is responsible for themselves.. we want to fulfil the will of God."

Pastor Rytikov also told the court that he is caring for his 36-year-old son, who had a nervous breakdown because of a shell that fell near their house in 2015. "He cannot live independently, because of a head injury," Pastor Rytikov noted.

"I remembered how they tried and falsely accused our Saviour Jesus Christ!!!" Pastor Rytikov wrote after the appeal hearing. "And He prayed to His Father: 'Forgive them, Father, for they do not know what they do'. I said to the judge and the prosecutor, may the Lord forgive you and I forgive you!"

Officials have repeatedly raided the Council of Churches Baptist congregation in Krasnodon and threatened criminal prosecution for continuing to meet for worship without permission from the Russian occupiers. The local court has repeatedly fined the now 66-year-old Pastor Rytikov (a Soviet-era prisoner of conscience).

Starobesheve: Court hands down fine, book destruction order

Officials in Russian-occupied Donetsk Region seized religious literature from Oksana Volyanskaya. They accused her of violating Russian Administrative Code Article 5.26, Part 3 ("Implementation of activities by a religious organisation without indicating its official full name, including the issuing or distribution, within the framework of missionary activity, of literature and printed, audio, and video material without a label bearing this name, or with an incomplete or deliberately false label").

On 20 June, the case against Volyanskaya was lodged at the Russian-controlled Starobesheve District Court in Russian-occupied Donetsk Region. On 30 June, Judge Mariya Palkina changed the accusation to Russian Administrative Code Article 5.26, Part 4 ("Russians conducting missionary activity"), as Part 3 punishes only organisations, not individuals.

At the court hearing, Volyanskaya "partially admitted her guilt" and denied that she had conducted services. She admitted that her religious literature did not have official markings from a registered religious organisation. "She did not know that the organisation was not registered, and believes that this was an omission on the part of the lawyers," the Russian-controlled Donetsk Supreme Court noted on 4 July.

The Judge found Volyanskaya guilty and fined her 10,000 Russian Roubles (one week's average local wages). The Judge also ordered that the books seized from her be destroyed. Volyanskaya did not appeal against the punishment and the decision came into force on 12 August, according to court records.

Officials at the Court did not answer the phone between 28 August and 1 September.

Courts in Russia often order that religious books confiscated from individuals be destroyed.

Makeyevka: Court hands down "missionary" punishment

Russian officials accused a Muslim leader in Makeyevka in Russian-occupied Donetsk Region of violating Russian Administrative Code Article 5.26, Part 4 ("Russians conducting missionary activity"). On 9 June, the case against Rinat Aysin was lodged at the city's Russian-controlled Hirnytskyi District Court. On 9 July, Judge Anna Korotich found him guilty and punished him, according to court records. Aysin did not appeal against the punishment.

Aysin leads the Unity All-Ukrainian Muslim Spiritual Administration, which gained Russian registration in November 2022, according to Russian tax records. Between 2014 and the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, when the area was part of the Russian-controlled Donetsk People's Republic, Aysin was close to the leadership. He has strong links to Muslim organisations in Russia.

Telmanovo: Court hands down "missionary" punishment

Russian officials accused Anatoly Avramishin of violating Russian Administrative Code Article 5.26, Part 4 ("Russians conducting missionary activity"). On 2 July, the case against him was lodged at the Russian-controlled Telmanovo District Court in Russian-occupied Donetsk Region. On 14 July, Judge Nikolai Boiko found him guilty and punished him.

Avramishin did not appeal against the punishment and the decision came into force on 5 August, according to court records.

Donetsk: Court hands down "missionary" punishment

On 21 July, Russian officials accused Sofya Orlova of violating Russian Administrative Code Article 5.26, Part 4 ("Russians conducting missionary activity"). On 22 July, the case against her was lodged at the Russian-controlled Voroshilov Inter-District Court in Russian-occupied Donetsk. On 4 August, Judge Vadim Tkachenko found her guilty and punished her.

Orlova did not appeal against the punishment and the decision came into force on 18 August, according to court records.

Amvrosiivka: Court hands down "missionary" punishment

Russian officials accused Konstantin Kazakov of violating Russian Administrative Code Article 5.26, Part 4 ("Russians conducting missionary activity"). On 30 July, the case against him was lodged at the Russian-controlled Amvrosiivka District Court in Russian-occupied Donetsk Region. On 6 August, Judge Maksim Nikiforov found him guilty and punished him, according to court records. Kazakov did not appeal against the punishment.

Khartsyzk: 2 Russian-registered churches punished

Russian officials in Khartsyzk in occupied Donetsk Region punished two Protestant churches in June under Russian Administrative Code Article 5.26, Part 3 ("Implementation of activities by a religious organisation without indicating its official full name, including the issuing or distribution, within the framework of missionary activity, of literature and printed, audio, and video material without a label bearing this name, or with an incomplete or deliberately false label"). Punishments are a fine of 30,000 to 50,000 Russian Roubles and possible confiscation of any materials.

Religious organisations – in Russia and Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine - are prosecuted for not showing the complete forms of their officially registered names on literature, online, and most frequently on buildings.

Both Churches - Morning Star Baptist Church and Light of Truth Pentecostal Church – have Russian registration.

On 10 June, officials handed cases against the two Churches to the Russian-controlled Khartsyzk Inter-District Court. The cases were assigned to Judge Tatyana Maleyeva. In separate hearings on the morning of 24 June, the Judge found both Churches guilty and handed down punishments, according to court records. Neither Church appealed against the punishments and the court decisions have entered into legal force.

Already in 2025, Donetsk's Voroshilov Inter-District Court has punished two religious communities in the city under Russian Administrative Code Article 5.26, Part 3: Donetsk Jewish Religious Community on 13 March and St Joseph Roman Catholic parish on 29 May.

The process to liquidate the community's legal status under Russian law began on 10 April, according to Russian tax records. As of 1 September, the records still list the community as "in the stage of liquidation".

Two Catholic parishes have Russian registration in Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine's Donetsk Region, St Joseph Roman Catholic parish and Transfiguration of the Saviour Greek Catholic parish, according to Russian tax records.

However, the Roman Catholic parish has no resident priest. Two priests from Russia visited to lead worship in the Donetsk and Makeyevka parishes in Holy Week and on Easter Sunday, 20 April. Services at the parishes in Russian-occupied parts of Donetsk Region - as well as those in neighbouring Luhansk Region - have to be led by laypeople in the absence of resident priests. (END)

More reports on freedom of thought, conscience and belief in Occupied Ukraine

For background information, see Forum 18's Occupied Ukraine religious freedom survey

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