The Investigative Committee in Moscow has opened a criminal case against Orthodox journalist Kseniya Luchenko for a Telegram post in which she condemned a Russian missile strike on a Kyiv children's hospital in July 2024, and contrasted this with the Russian state and Moscow Patriarchate's promotion of so-called "traditional values".

Investigators opened the case against Luchenko under Criminal Code Article 207.3, Part 2 Paragraph d ("Public dissemination of knowingly false information about the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation for reasons of political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred or enmity, or for reasons of hatred or enmity against any social group"). The maximum punishment is a 10-year jail term (see below).

Asked why Luchenko is facing criminal investigation, an official at the office in Moscow responsible for the criminal case told Forum 18: "Come into the office and we can tell you." Told that Forum 18 is based outside Russia, the official (who did not give his name) put the phone down. Forum 18's written enquiry to the Federal Investigative Committee’s press service went unanswered (see below).

Although Luchenko left Russia in 2022, a Moscow court issued a detention order for her in absentia on 24 November 2025. Officials had already had her placed on the Interior Ministry's Federal Wanted List, the Federal Financial Monitoring Service (Rosfinmonitoring) "List of Terrorists and Extremists", and the Justice Ministry's register of "foreign agents" (see below).

Although Luchenko remains outside Russia, the measures which state authorities have taken against her nevertheless have consequences. If she returns to Moscow to visit her elderly mother, she would be immediately arrested. She also risks being sent back to Russia if she travels to any state with bilateral extradition agreements with Russia (see below).

Because of both her "foreign agent" status and being added to the Rosfinmonitoring list, books Luchenko has published since Russia's invasion of Ukraine are unavailable in Russian shops and libraries, she told Forum 18 (see below).

Luchenko also raised the possibility of problems with banking in Western countries as a result of being added to the Rosfinmonitoring "List of Terrorists and Extremists". "Proving that it's a Russian list and that it's not necessary to block the person's account is very difficult", she told Forum 18 (see below).

A Moscow Buddhist is due to stand trial a second time on charges of distributing "false information" about the Russian Armed Forces, after an appeal court overturned his conviction and 8-year prison sentence. At his original trial, Ilya Vasilyev had asked for a public defender – the judge's refusal to allow this constituted a violation of his right to a defence, Moscow City Court found on 22 October (see forthcoming F18News article).

Prosecutors accused Vasilyev, director of the Moscow Zen Centre, of "Public dissemination of knowingly false information about the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation for reasons of political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred or enmity, or for reasons of hatred or enmity against any social group" (Criminal Code Article 207.3, Part 2 Paragraph d) for an English-language Facebook post (made "solely out of religious conviction", his lawyer told Forum 18) about a Russian missile attack on the Ukrainian city of Kherson in 2022. At present, he is still in detention at Moscow's Matrosskaya Tishina prison (see forthcoming F18News article).

On 25 November 2025, Protestant pastor Nikolay Romanyuk appealed unsuccessfully at Moscow Regional Court against his criminal conviction for opposing Russia's war in Ukraine on religious grounds. He is now awaiting transfer to a prison colony to begin serving his 4-year sentence. Balashikha City Court had found him guilty on 3 September under Criminal Code Article 280.4 ("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 preaching that church members should not fight in Ukraine (see forthcoming F18News article).

Criminal case opened against Orthodox journalist outside Russia

On 29 September, the Investigative Committee's Moscow Investigative Directorate announced on its Telegram channel that it had initiated a criminal case against a Russian Orthodox journalist. Kseniya Valeryevna Luchenko (born 13 June 1979) has consistently opposed Russia's war against Ukraine and written critically about the Moscow Patriarchate's active support for it. She left Russia in April 2022, but it is possible that she will be tried in absentia.

Investigators in the capital's South Western Administrative District opened the case under Criminal Code Article 207.3 ("Public dissemination, under the guise of credible statements, of knowingly false information on the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation"), Part 2, Paragraph d ("for reasons of political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred or enmity, or for reasons of hatred or enmity against any social group").

Punishments for this include a fine of 3 million to 5 million Roubles (30 to 50 months' average wage), up to 5 years' assigned labour (prinuditelniye raboty) plus "deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 5 years", or 5 to 10 years' imprisonment followed by the same ban on activities.

Asked on 4 November why Luchenko is facing criminal investigation, an official at the office in Moscow responsible for the criminal case told Forum 18: "Come into the office and we can tell you." Told that Forum 18 is based outside Russia, the official (who did not give his name) put the phone down.

Forum 18 put the same question in writing to the Federal Investigative Committee's press service on 21 November, and asked whether Luchenko would be tried in absentia. Forum 18 had received no response by the end of the Moscow working day of 9 December.

Luchenko runs the Orthodoxy and Zombies Telegram channel, which posts independent news and comment on the Russian Orthodox Church and supports priests who have opposed Russia's war against Ukraine. It appears that her prosecution is based on a single post on this channel dating from the summer of 2024, condemning the Russian airstrike on the Okhmatdyt children's hospital in Kyiv.

On 16 May 2025, the Justice Ministry added Luchenko to its register of "foreign agents".

On 17 October 2025, investigators had her name added to the Federal Financial Monitoring Service (Rosfinmonitoring) "List of Terrorists and Extremists", whose assets banks are obliged to freeze (although small transactions are permitted).

The Interior Ministry has also placed Luchenko on its Federal Wanted List, Mediazona noted on 24 October 2025. Luchenko is among at least 44 individuals wanted by Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan on Russia's Federal Wanted List.

Forum 18 asked Interpol on 4 November if it had issued a Red Notice related to Luchenko at Russia's request. Russia is known to have illegally asked Interpol to distribute Red Notices about individuals. Interpol had not answered this question by the end of the working day in Lyon of 9 December.

"They celebrate the festive liturgy .. while bombs are falling on Ukrainian children"

On 24 November, according to the Moscow court system's online portal, Cheryomushki District Court ruled that Kseniya Luchenko should be placed in pre-trial detention. While she remains outside the country, this decision has no immediate effect, but it would be enacted were she to return to Russia. Luchenko lodged an appeal against the detention order on 1 December.

The court hearing also noted that the investigators are prosecuting Luchenko for a post she made on her Telegram channel on 8 July 2024, and a repost of the same text on the website of independent media outlet Ekho Moskvy on the same day.

The post reads: "The Russian Orthodox state [Rossiyskoye pravoslavnoye gosudarstvo] celebrated 'The Day of Family, Love, and Fidelity', by striking a children's hospital in Kyiv with a missile".

"And in Russia, a 'Family Parade' is underway. It began over the weekend, but is taking place today in most cities. With daisies and the flags of the World Congress of the Russian People. And with the active participation of dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church. They celebrate the festive liturgy, then march in this ersatz procession of the cross [krestniy khod], singing troparia [hymns], and then presenting medals to large families, while bombs are falling on Ukrainian children. These are the 'values of Holy Rus'."

On the morning of 8 July 2024, a Russian missile had hit the Okhmatdyt children's hospital in Kyiv, injuring ten children and destroying or severely damaging several departments.

In 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree designating 8 July "The Day of Family, Love, and Fidelity", "in order to preserve traditional family values and the spiritual-moral education of children and youth".

Trial in absentia?

It is unclear whether a court will hold a trial of Kseniya Luchenko in absentia. It is legally possible and appears to have become more frequent in recent years. On 9 December 2025, opposition politician Ilya Yashin (released in a prisoner exchange in 2024 and now living in Germany) was convicted of "evading the duties of a foreign agent" (Criminal Code Article 330.1) and sentenced in absentia to a year and 10 months' imprisonment.

"Theoretically, what difference does it make to [investigative agencies] whether a person is in Russia or not?", Luchenko commented to Forum 18 on 12 November. "They also pursue criminal cases [in absentia] for ordinary criminal offences like fraud, not political ones. The goal is probably to intimidate and punish."

Consequences: Arrest on return, books unavailable, banking problems

Although Kseniya Luchenko remains outside Russia, the measures which state authorities have taken against her nevertheless have consequences. Being placed on the Interior Ministry's wanted list means that she would be arrested if she returned.

"My mother lives in Moscow; she's 81 years old, which means if something happens to her, I won't be able to help", Luchenko explained to Forum 18 on 26 November. She also risks being sent back to Russia if she travels to any state with bilateral extradition agreements with Russia. Russia has also been known to ask other countries to deport Russian nationals on the basis of immigration violations in cases in which extradition is not possible.

Because of both her "foreign agent" status and being added to the Rosfinmonitoring list, books Luchenko has published since Russia's invasion of Ukraine are unavailable in Russian shops and libraries, she noted on 8 December. They are still for sale, however, on online marketplaces.

Although there is no explicit legal prohibition on selling books by "foreign agents" as long as they are marked as such and covered in opaque packaging, new legislation introduced further restrictions from September 2025. Shops which sell such books are now barred from providing books to schools and libraries, cannot access preferential rent, advertising, and social entrepreneurship schemes, and are ineligible for municipal support for publishing projects.

Luchenko also raised the possibility of problems with banking in Western countries as a result of being added to the Russian Federal Financial Monitoring Service (Rosfinmonitoring) "List of Terrorists and Extremists". Western banks are still making decisions on whether to block Russian citizens' accounts, or allow them to open new ones, based on information from Rosfinmonitoring.

Updates to the Rosfinmonitoring "List of Terrorists and Extremists" are automatically sent to international companies which aggregate data for "Know Your Customer" and anti-money-laundering systems used by financial institutions in the almost entirely automated process of carrying out due diligence on people or organisations wishing to open accounts or perform transactions. As a result, people who appear on the list because they have been prosecuted for exercising their right to freedom of religion or belief, opposing the war in Ukraine, or criticising the Russian government, will be unable to open new accounts abroad or may see their existing assets frozen.

"In the Western financial system, everyone on a terror list looks equally risky, whether they are a Russian political prisoner or an ISIS fighter", Aleksandra Prokopenko of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Centre noted on 13 November.

The burden of dealing with unwarranted blocks or refusals lies on the affected individuals, who must usually hire lawyers and apply to banks' compliance departments with documentation proving the political nature of their inclusion on the Rosfinmonitoring List.

"Proving that it's a Russian list and that it's not necessary to block the person's account is very difficult", Kseniya Luchenko observed to Forum 18. "There are precedents of Russians and Belarusians having their accounts blocked in European banks because they had been added to Rosfinmonitoring's registry." The issue is important "because it shows how Russia is reaching out to us in the West".

In December 2024, President Vladimir Putin signed into law a set of amendments to anti-money-laundering legislation, which expanded the list of Criminal Code Articles under which prosecution can lead to inclusion on the Rosfinmonitoring List. As of 1 June 2025, when the amendments came into force, investigators or prosecutors may have an individual added to the list if he or she has been named as a suspect, charged, or convicted under the following (as well as for a number of violent offences):

Article 207.3, Part 2, Paragraph d ("Public dissemination of knowingly false information about the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, for reasons of political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred or enmity, or for reasons of hatred or enmity against any social group") and Part 3 ("Public dissemination of knowingly false information about the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation" when this has "grave consequences");

Article 280.4, Part 2, Paragraph d ("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 reasons of political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred or enmity, or for reasons of hatred or enmity against any social group") and Part 3 ("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, carried out by an organised group");

Article 280.2 ("Violation of the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation");

Article 282.4 ("Repeated propaganda or public display of Nazi paraphernalia or symbols, or paraphernalia or symbols of extremist organisations, or other paraphernalia or symbols, the propaganda or public display of which is prohibited by federal law"). (END)

More reports on freedom of thought, conscience and belief in Russia

For background information see Forum 18's Russia religious freedom survey

Forum 18's compilation of Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) freedom of religion or belief commitments

Follow us on Bluesky @Forum18

Follow us on Facebook @Forum18NewsService

Follow us on Telegram @Forum18NewsService

Follow us on WhatsApp Forum 18

Follow us on X/Twitter @Forum_18

All Forum 18 material may be referred to, quoted from, or republished in full, if Forum 18 is credited as the source.

All photographs that are not Forum 18's copyright are attributed to the copyright owner. If you reuse any photographs from Forum 18's website, you must seek permission for any reuse from the copyright owner or abide by the copyright terms the copyright owner has chosen.

© Forum 18 News Service. All rights reserved. ISSN 1504-2855.