Fr Yakov Vorontsov – a 40-year-old independent Orthodox priest in the southern city of Almaty – completed a 10-day jail term on 23 February on drugs charges that he and his supporters reject. Instead of being released, officials took him to the police station for questioning as a "suspect" on alleged criminal charges of running a drugs den. On 25 February, a judge ordered him held in pre-trial detention for two months, now as a suspect.

Fr Yakov wrote from prison that the criminal investigation "appears to be fabricated and ordered". His lawyer Galym Nurpeisov described the case as a "frame-up [provokatsiya in Russian]". "Behind this is the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian FSB," he told Forum 18. "They're worried because they think Fr Yakov caused a schism in the Orthodox Church in Kazakhstan. Some Orthodox have started to follow him and to support Ukraine" (see below).

At the 25 February hearing, Judge Zhansaya Namazbayeva rejected Fr Yakov's lawyer's request that restrictions imposed on his client as the investigation continues should not include detention. The Judge ruled that Fr Yakov was a flight risk and pointed out that any sentence would be of at least five years' imprisonment if convicted, according to the decision seen by Forum 18 (see below).

Daniyar Kametov of Almaty City Police's Investigation Department, who is leading the investigation into Fr Yakov, refused to say how a criminal case could be registered before police had even searched Fr Yakov's home. He absolutely refused to answer any questions. "You're not a party to the case," he told Forum 18. "I can't give any comment." He then put the phone down (see below).

Fr Yakov leads a newly-created parish in Almaty, the Independent Community of Orthodox Christians in Honour of the Transfiguration of the Lord. It has tried to gain state registration. Justice Department officials rejected the first application in December 2025. The parish lodged a second application on 9 January. It remains unknown if this has or has not been rejected. Justice Department officials did not answer their phones each time Forum 18 called (see below).

Nurlan Kikimov, head of Almaty City Religious Affairs Department, said he did not know what decision the Justice Department had taken on the application. "It is a separate state body," he told Forum 18. "They did not consult us about the application. We did not conduct the religious studies expert analysis" (see below).

Kikimov insisted that neither the Russian Orthodox Church nor other religious communities can influence officials' decisions. "The Russian Orthodox Church is a religious organisation and cannot exert influence on the state. Religions are separate from the state" (see below).

Fr Yakov is a strong critic of Russia's war against Ukraine and of the Moscow Patriarchate for supporting the war. Kazakhstan's Orthodox Church under the Moscow Patriarchate defrocked Fr Yakov in July 2023 (see below).

Investigators began a criminal investigation of Fr Yakov for alleged "incitement" for comments he made online about the Moscow Patriarchate and Russia's war. The investigator closed the case only in April 2025 after nearly 16 months. Russian Orthodox clergy have publicly called for the case to be reopened (see below).

On 7 January 2026, "strange behaviour" began around Fr Yakov's home in Almaty. "Men in civilian clothes came to my house and secretly took photographs," he told Forum 18. Unknown people also started calling those who signed the parish's registration application. "On 8 January, some people posing as officials called the participants of the founding meeting and asked whether they had truly and voluntarily participated in the meeting and whether they supported the initiative to establish a church" (see below).

At about half past midnight on 13 February, OMON riot police with dogs raided Fr Yakov's home in Almaty. They were accompanied by investigators. Police searched his home, claiming later to have found a "powdered substance". They then arrested him. On 13 February, an Almaty court sentenced him to 10 days' imprisonment on drugs charges (see below).

Forum 18 earlier could not reach anyone at Almaty Police prepared to answer questions on the raid and arrest (see below).

Fr Yakov denied that the powder found in his home belonged to him. "I imagine that it was planted with the aim of sorting me out and discrediting me," he wrote in a letter from prison. "The whole world knows of my choice of the Gospel, not of the 'Russian World' [russky mir]; peace and not war; freedom of conscience and not submission to evil clothed in episcopal omophorions [robes]" (see below).

Fr Yakov's lawyer Nurpeisov believes the authorities launched the original criminal case (closed in 2025), then the administrative and then new criminal case for two reasons. "It was a result of his wanting to register an independent Orthodox parish, and of his criticism of Russia's war against Ukraine," he told Forum 18 (see below).

Human rights defender Galym Ageleuov, head of the Liberty human rights group, insists that there is no substance to accusations that Fr Yakov maintained a drug den in his home. He sees Fr Yakov's case as important for wider society. "The fate of Yakov Vorontsov is very important because he is like a litmus test, an indicator of the state of our country, and it is important to support him in this difficult moment" (see below).

State-imposed Muslim monopoly, Russian Orthodox monopoly also?

The regime has granted a monopoly on Muslim activity to the state-controlled Muslim Board (Muftiate) without ever explaining why it is doing so. The Muslim Board is the only registered Muslim organisation in Kazakhstan, and all mosques must be subject to it. Officials punish unregistered Muslim prayers and education, and forcibly close prayer rooms.

Earlier, the regime was prepared to register non-Moscow Patriarchate Orthodox communities. Several communities - including those of the True Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad - existed outside the framework of the Moscow Patriarchate's local dioceses. However, the regime appears now to have a policy of preventing the exercise of freedom of religion or belief by any new Orthodox communities outside the framework of the Moscow Patriarchate.

Fr Gennady Subbotin leads a non-Moscow Patriarchate community in Kostanai Region which had its church in Oktyabrskoe taken from it in June 2023. He thinks officials listen to the views of the Moscow Patriarchate Church, which does not want other Orthodox jurisdictions to exist. "Most likely they wouldn't give registration if we applied now," he told Forum 18 in April 2025. "They hope that if they make life difficult for us, we'll renounce our position"

Laura Shirimbayeva, head of the Religious Affairs Committee's Department dealing with Christian and other communities in the Culture and Information Ministry in Astana, would not say directly if Orthodox communities outside the framework of the Moscow Patriarchate would or would not be allowed to register. "Anyone has the right to lodge a registration application if it meets the requirements of the Religion Law," she told Forum 18 in December 2024.

Asked if it would register for example a community subject to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, as then being proposed by Fr Yakov Vorontsov, Shirimbayeva responded: "They have not yet lodged any application." She then put the phone down. Shirimbayeva did not answer her phone each time Forum 18 called between 19 and 26 February 2026.

Fr Yakov's 16-month criminal investigation closed in April 2025

Anti-war Orthodox priest Fr Yakov (Vladimir Yuryevich Vorontsov, born 20 February 1986) was a priest of Kazakhstan's Orthodox Church under the Moscow Patriarchate, serving in his native city of Almaty, including at the city's Ascension Cathedral. In July 2023, the Diocesan Council ruled to defrock him. He originally hoped to create an Orthodox parish in Almaty under the Ecumenical Patriarchate, but more recently has sought to register an independent Orthodox parish.

In August 2023, Fr Yakov wrote a 104-word post on Facebook complaining that the Russian Orthodox Church Moscow Patriarchate – with which he was increasingly disillusioned because of its support for Russia's war against Ukraine – "has long had nothing in common with Christianity". After an anonymous denunciation, Almaty Police summoned him for questioning. He deleted the post in late 2023.

On 27 December 2023, Almaty City Police opened an investigation into Fr Yakov under Criminal Code Article 174, Part 1 over the Facebook post, according to case materials seen by Forum 18.

Article 174, Part 1 punishes "Incitement of social, national, clan, racial, or religious discord, insult to the national honour and dignity or religious feelings of citizens, as well as propaganda of exclusivity, superiority or inferiority of citizens on grounds of their religion, class, national, generic or racial identity, committed publicly or with the use of mass media or information and communication networks, as well as by production or distribution of literature or other information media, promoting social, national, clan, racial, or religious discord" with a maximum punishment of a 7-year jail term.

On 22 April 2025, after nearly 16 months, Police Investigator Samat Atakhan of Almaty City Police's Investigation Department finally closed his criminal investigation into Fr Yakov. The 5-page decision to close the case – seen by Forum 18 – declares that "the criminal case is subject to closure because of the absence in [Fr Yakov's] actions of the substance of a criminal offence".

Justice Department rejects Orthodox parish's registration application

On 20 November 2025, Orthodox Christians met in Almaty to found the Independent Community of Orthodox Christians in Honour of the Transfiguration of the Lord. The 54 adult citizens present (28 men and 26 women) elected Fr Yakov as leader of the community.

On 17 December 2025, the independent parish lodged its registration application with Almaty City Justice Department. The application had signatures of 54 founders. Article 12 of the Religion Law requires a local religious organisation to have at least 50 adult citizen founders.

On 23 December 2025, Almaty City Justice Department, rejected the parish's registration application. The rejection, signed by Deputy Head Zauresh Zatkhozhina (and seen by Forum 18), claims that one of the 54 founders is the only founder of an inactive legal entity. Having a founder of such an inactive legal entity violates Article 11 of the Law on State Registration of Legal Entities.

Zatkhozhina of Almaty City Justice Department did not answer her phone each time Forum 18 called between 19 and 26 February 2026. Nor did Olga Pak, head of its Control and Registration of Non-Commercial Organisations Department, who co-signed the registration rejection.

Parish resubmits application amid threats

On 7 January, "strange behaviour" began around Fr Yakov's home in Almaty. "Men in civilian clothes came to my house and secretly took photographs," he told Forum 18 on 9 January. He added that when his neighbour saw them, they pretended to leave. Then they returned and started taking photographs again. "Why would they secretly photograph my house? They could have asked - I would have sent them the photos myself."

Unknown people also started calling those who signed the parish's registration application. "On 8 January, some people posing as officials called the participants of the founding meeting and asked whether they had truly and voluntarily participated in the meeting and whether they supported the initiative to establish a church," Fr Yakov told Forum 18 on 9 January. "An investigation is underway. This is strange, since a refusal order has been signed, and we haven't resubmitted the documents yet, so there are no grounds for an investigation."

On 9 January, the Transfiguration of the Lord parish resubmitted its application to Almaty City Justice Department. It sent the application for a "religious studies expert analysis", Galym Nurpeisov told Forum 18 on 25 February. One month is allowed for this. The Justice Department then has 10 days to give its response.

"The response should already have been given," Nurpeisov said. "It would go directly to Fr Yakov. He would have to go to the office to collect it, but he's in prison. I don't represent him at the Justice Department."

It remains unclear if Almaty City Justice Department has responded to the application and, if so, what its decision was. Neither Deputy Head Zauresh Zatkhozhina nor Olga Pak, head of its Control and Registration of Non-Commercial Organisations Department, answered their phones each time Forum 18 called between 19 and 26 February 2026.

Nurlan Kikimov, head of Almaty City Religious Affairs Department, said he did not know what decision the Justice Department had taken on the application. "It is a separate state body," he told Forum 18 on 26 February. "They did not consult us about the application. We did not conduct the religious studies expert analysis."

Kikimov insisted that neither the Russian Orthodox Church nor other religious communities can influence officials' decisions. "The Russian Orthodox Church is a religious organisation and cannot exert influence on the state. Religions are separate from the state."

Human rights defender Galym Ageleuov, head of the Liberty human rights group, noted on his YouTube channel on 18 February that if the authorities refuse to register religious communities, such as the independent Orthodox parish led by Fr Yakov, this would show they do not want religious communities "to have the possibility to breathe freely. It turns out that the most important thing for such a state is control."

Suit to annul the Justice Department rejection

Fr Yakov prepared a suit against Almaty City Justice Department over the registration denial, which he lodged to Almaty City Specialised Inter-District Administrative Court on 10 January. The suit called for the court to annul the Justice Department's rejection of the application and to order it to register the Orthodox community.

On 3 February 2026, Judge Ulyana Zhalmukhambetova ruled that there was no reason not to proceed with hearing Fr Yakov's suit. She set an online hearing to prepare for the initial hearing for 5pm on 9 February, according to her ruling seen by Forum 18.

Fr Yakov then withdrew the suit because of the parish's new registration application. "If there is a new refusal, the suit can be reinstated," his lawyer Galym Nurpeisov told Forum 18.

Justice Ministry rejects parish's complaint "without considering merits of our arguments"

On 9 January 2026, Fr Yakov complained to the Justice Ministry in the capital Astana on behalf of the Transfiguration of the Lord parish over the "unlawful denial of registration". The Justice Ministry's Registration and Legal Services Committee rejected the complaint in a two-minute online hearing chaired by M. Zhamaliyev on 16 January. The written rejection, prepared by M. Zhamaliyev, was signed by a Committee Deputy Chair Dauren Kusainov.

Fr Yakov said the Justice Ministry dismissed the complaint "without considering the merits of our arguments", as he wrote in a 22 January complaint on behalf of the parish to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Kusainov did not answer his phone each time Forum 18 called on 19 February. Reached the same day, Zhamaliyev refused absolutely to answer any questions about the rejection of the parish's complaint. "All is in the official response," he told Forum 18. "We give no comments," he replied to all further questions. He then put the phone down.

Arrest, 10-day jail term

At about half past midnight on 13 February, OMON riot police with dogs raided Fr Yakov's home in Almaty. They were accompanied by investigators. Police searched his home, claiming later to have found a "powdered substance". They then arrested him.

Officials had already obtained approval for the raid from Almaty City Investigative Court, his lawyer Galym Nurpeisov told Forum 18. (Like other cases related to Fr Yakov, the hearing is not included in public court case listings.)

An analysis the same day claimed Fr Yakov had 2.44 grams of 3-Chloromethcathinone, a synthetic psychotropic substance. A subsequent court decision revealed that the house search was ordered as part of the criminal case on drugs charges.

Forum 18 could not reach anyone at Almaty Police on 19 or 20 February prepared to answer questions on the raid and arrest.

A hastily-arranged medical examination of Fr Yakov claimed to find a narcotic in his blood. "I believe there could have been a medical mistake," Nurpeisov told Forum 18. He insists that Fr Yakov should not have been arrested before the medical examination had taken place.

Officials prepared a case against Fr Yakov under Administrative Code Article 440-1 ("Non-medical use of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, their analogues, as well as potent substances"). They sent the case to Almaty Specialised Inter-District Administrative Court. On 13 February, Judge Saule Khozhakhmetova found Fr Yakov guilty and sentenced him to 10 days' imprisonment. Fr Yakov denied any guilt.

The Judge's secretary did not answer the phone each time Forum 18 called on 20 February.

Nurpeisov lodged an appeal on 15 February. In the evening of 17 February, Almaty City Court rejected the appeal. (Like other cases related to Fr Yakov, the hearing is not included in public court case listings.)

Nurpeisov complains of "procedural violations" over the appeal. "As my client was in custody, the appeal should have been heard within 24 hours," he told Forum 18.

Fr Yakov rejects drugs allegations

On 16 February, one of Fr Yakov's lawyers Dias Akhmetov visited his client in Almaty Police's Detention Centre, the lawyer noted on his Facebook page the same day. He posted a four-page handwritten letter that Fr Yakov had written the previous day, asking that others report it.

Fr Yakov claimed the court had given him the 10-day jailing on the basis of the "erroneous conclusions of the expert analysis". "The judge heard but ignored the conclusions of my lawyer and me."

Fr Yakov noted the tribulations Satan "through his earthly slaves" had unleashed on him "trying to destroy the initiative to create in Kazakhstan an Independent Orthodox Church". He wrote of the "threats and risks" he had long faced because of this.

"The whole world knows of my choice of the Gospel, not of the 'Russian World' [russky mir]; peace and not war; freedom of conscience and not submission to evil clothed in episcopal omophorions [robes]," Fr Yakov insisted.

Fr Yakov denied that the powder found in his home belonged to him. "I imagine that it was planted with the aim of sorting me out and discrediting me," he wrote. He said many people visited his home. "Various people came to me for pastoral comfort and a good word." He said it was "not hard to guess" who might have wanted to discredit him.

Fr Yakov identified what he saw as the two main motivations for the case against him. The first was to "hide their canonical crime", he wrote. "They rushed to slander and false witness, and deprived me of my orders as a priest, because of my striving for peace and for a faith independent of the aggressor country and its religious institutions."

The second motivation was, Fr Yakov wrote: "Not to allow competition, to prevent the appearance in Kazakhstan of an independent Orthodox religious association."

Fr Yakov wrote that he now faced a criminal investigation, which "appears to be fabricated and ordered".

Fr Yakov repeated his absolute denial that he had any drugs in an 18 February letter from prison. "They planted items in my home that I would never have allowed to be there."

Fr Yakov explained what he thought was the reason. "The attempt to exercise the right to freedom of conscience and freedom of association and gathering in Kazakhstan has led me to prison," he wrote. "My home, where believers gathered and where the new shoots of a new Orthodox community are sprouting, has been declared a '[drugs] den'."

Rearrested under new criminal case, 2-months' pre-trial detention

Fr Yakov's lawyer Galym Nurpeisov noted to the local media on 13 February that a new criminal case had been registered. Officials at that point regarded Fr Yakov as a witness in the case.

Almaty Police later announced that the criminal case related to "organising a den for drug use" (presumably under Criminal Code Article 302).

"A man born in 1986 was detained on suspicion," the Police announced. "Powdered substances were seized during the search. A medical examination confirmed his drug use."

Fr Yakov completed his 10-day jail term at 8 am on 23 February. However, officials did not release him. They took him instead to an Almaty Police Investigator for questioning as a suspect in the criminal case. Investigators brought the case under Criminal Code Article 302, Part 1 and Article 296, Part 4 ("Illegal production, processing, acquisition, storage, transportation without the purpose of sale of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, their analogues in especially large quantities").

Almaty City Police's Investigation Department says that Fr Yakov is suspected of organising and running a drugs den in his home and obtaining large quantities of "analogues of psychotropic substances" between 11 November 2025 and 12 February 2026. It claimed to have found three bundles containing bags of a powdered white substance "with a specific smell".

Investigator Daniyar Kametov, with the approval of the city's Deputy Prosecutor Zhandos Abdibayev, brought a suit to Almaty's Specialised Inter-District Investigative Court to have Fr Yakov held in pre-trial detention while the investigation continued.

Investigator Kametov refused to say how a criminal case could be registered before police had even searched Fr Yakov's home. He refused absolutely to answer any questions. "You're not a party to the case," he told Forum 18 on 26 February. "I can't give any comment." He then put the phone down.

On 25 February, Judge Zhansaya Namazbayeva ordered Fr Yakov held in two months' pre-trial detention. The period was to run from the morning of 23 February to the morning of 23 April, according to the decision seen by Forum 18. (Like other cases related to Fr Yakov, the hearing is not included in public court case listings.)

Judge Namazbayeva rejected the request by Fr Yakov's lawyer Galym Nurpeisov that restrictions imposed on his client as the investigation continues should not include detention. The Judge ruled that Fr Yakov was a flight risk and pointed out that any sentence would be of at least five years' imprisonment if convicted.

"The hearing was supposed to be open," Nurpeisov told Forum 18 on 25 February. "But as it was on WhatsApp, no one else was included apart from those directly involved."

Fr Yakov's address in investigation prison:

050054 g. Almaty
Turksibsky raion
Ul. Krasnogorskaya 73
Uchrezhdenie No. 72

Are drugs charges fabricated?

Fr Yakov insists the criminal charges against him are fabricated, and his supporters and lawyers agree.

Galym Nurpeisov described the case as a "frame-up [provokatsiya in Russian]". "Behind this is the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian FSB," he told Forum 18 on 25 February. "They're worried because they think Fr Yakov caused a schism in the Orthodox Church in Kazakhstan. Some Orthodox have started to follow him and to support Ukraine."

Human rights defender Galym Ageleuov, head of the Liberty human rights group, insists that there is no substance to accusations that Fr Yakov maintained a drug den in his home. "Those who came to his home were mostly those who wanted to support him," he noted on his YouTube channel on 18 February, and who wanted to "found their own parish".

Why the state pressure?

Fr Yakov's lawyer Galym Nurpeisov believes the authorities launched the original criminal case (closed in 2025), then the administrative and then new criminal case for two reasons. "It was a result of his wanting to register an independent Orthodox parish, and of his criticism of Russia's war against Ukraine," he told Forum 18.

Human rights defender Galym Ageleuov, head of the Liberty human rights group, also defends Fr Yakov. "He is absolutely sincere and honest, and he wants to advance the interests of those who are for peace," he told Radio Liberty's Kazakh Service on 17 February. "There is no propaganda in his sermons."

"This is not a schism," Ageleuov noted on his YouTube channel on 18 February. "This is a possibility to be an independent entity in Kazakhstan and form their own direction in Orthodoxy. This is good, because if you oppose war and are ready to speak about it, this is on the contrary a plus."

Ageleuov sees Fr Yakov's case as important for wider society. "The fate of Yakov Vorontsov is very important because he is like a litmus test, an indicator of the state of our country, and it is important to support him in this difficult moment." (END)

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

For background information, see Forum 18's Kazakhstan freedom of religion or belief survey

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

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