Source: www.forum18.org
Date: June 4, 2025
https://www.forum18.org/archiv
By Felix Corley, Forum 18
On 23 May, the Russian-controlled Budennovsk District Court in the occupied
Ukrainian city of Donetsk fined Pastor Vladimir Rudomyotkin several days'
average local wage for allegedly conducting missionary activity. He leads a
Council of Churches Baptist congregation which meets without seeking
permission from officials. Church members came to the court to support
their pastor.
Telephones went unanswered at Budennovsk District Court each time Forum 18
called (see below).
This is the latest of multiple punishments imposed by Russia on individuals
and communities in occupied Ukraine under Russia's Administrative Code for
alleged "missionary activity" (see below).
On 21 May, Donetsk's Russian-controlled Voroshilov Inter-District Court
punished the city's St Joseph Roman Catholic parish for allegedly failing
to give its official full name "within the framework of missionary
activity". Fines are typically handed down when a community fails to give
its full official name on notices outside its place of worship or on
literature it produces or distributes. The parish is unable to have a
resident priest and relies for Mass on visiting priests from Russia (see
below).
A Judge at the same court punished the Donetsk Jewish Religious Community
for the same "offence" on 13 March. The community is now being officially
liquidated (see below).
Telephones went unanswered at Voroshilov Inter-District Court each time
Forum 18 called (see below).
An official of the department that registers religious communities at the
Russian-controlled Donetsk Justice Department refused to discuss the
liquidation of the Donetsk Jewish Religious Community or anything else.
"This is a state secret," the official told Forum 18. "I don't have the
right to give information to anyone except to the leader of the
organisation" (see below).
On Sunday 16 February, an officer of the Russian-controlled police in
Pervomaisk (official Ukrainian name Sokolohirsk) in Russian-occupied
Luhansk Region, drew up a record of an offence in relation to visiting
Russian citizen Nikolai Galashev. He was accused under Article 5.26, Part 4
of Russia's Administrative Code ("Russians conducting missionary
activity"). A local court approved the transfer of the case to Galashev's
home region of Arkhangelsk in Russia (see below).
In March, Russian officials inspected the activity of a religious community
in Enerhodar in the Russian-occupied part of Zaporizhzhia Region. The
officials said they found an individual, identified only as S., conducting
"illegal" missionary activity. The Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia Regional
Court claimed that the individual "organised a parish of the given
organisation where so-called religious services were held on Sundays".
Enerhodar Town Court fined the individual about 3 weeks' average local
wages (see below).
Tight Russian controls
The Russian-occupied or partially-occupied regions of Ukraine which Russia
illegally claimed to have annexed
(https://news.un.org/en/story/
punishments under Russia's Criminal and Administrative Codes in late 2022
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Russia controls.
Russian occupation officials treat all Ukrainian religious communities
which have not received Russian state registration as illegal
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
forcibly closed religious communities
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
have been expelled from Russian-occupied territory.
Fr Kostiantyn Maksimov – who served a Ukrainian Orthodox parish in Tokmak
in Russian-occupied Ukraine – arrived in February at a strict regime
labour camp (https://www.forum18.org/archi
Russia's Saratov Region. In August 2024, the Russian-controlled
Zaporizhzhia Regional Court – at a closed trial held at the
Russian-controlled Crimean Supreme Court in Simferopol – jailed him for
14 years in a strict regime labour camp on charges of "espionage".
Russian-controlled courts have imposed multiple punishments on individuals
and communities in occupied Ukraine under Russia's Administrative Code for
alleged "missionary activity"
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Restricting, seizing places of worship, checking sermons
On 27 March, the Russian-controlled Melitopol Inter-District Court in the
occupied part of Zaporizhzhia Region ordered the Council of Churches
Baptist congregation to notify the Russian authorities of its existence in
accordance with Russian law. Its pastor, Dmitry Malakhov, who has faced
repeated court cases, is challenging this demand (see forthcoming F18News
article).
On 30 May, Russian-controlled police raided the Council of Churches Baptist
church in Luhansk's Artyomovsky District and threatened to close it (see
forthcoming F18News article).
The Russian occupation authorities have been confiscating property owned by
Ukrainian individuals or organisations that they deem "ownerless". Among
them have been places of worship already seized from religious communities,
especially those the Russian regime does not like (see forthcoming F18News
article).
In late April, Russian security officials reportedly visited at least one
church in the Russian-occupied part of Kherson Region to check what priests
say in their sermons (see forthcoming F18News article).
Donetsk: Court punishes Council of Churches Baptist pastor
On 18 April, officials prepared an administrative case against Pastor
Vladimir Rudomyotkin. He leads a Council of Churches Baptist congregation
in the Russian-occupied Donetsk. He was accused under Article 5.26, Part 4
of Russia's Administrative Code ("Russians conducting missionary
activity"). This carries a fine for individuals of 5,000 to 50,000 Russian
Roubles.
On 30 April, the case was handed to Donetsk's Russian-controlled Budennovsk
District Court, where the case was assigned to Judge Mariya Gulyayeva. At a
hearing on 15 May, she postponed the case, demanding more information on
the case. At a further hearing on 23 May, she fined Pastor Rudomyotkin
5,000 Russian Roubles (several days' average local wage), but delayed
issuing the full decision in writing until 27 May, according to court
records.
Telephones went unanswered at Budennovsk District Court each time Forum 18
called on 3 June.
About a dozen church members came to the court for the 15 May hearing to
support their pastor. They greeted him and his wife with flowers, church
members noted on 17 May.
Donetsk: Court punishes Roman Catholic parish
On 28 April, an administrative case reached Donetsk's Russian-controlled
Voroshilov Inter-District Court against the city's St Joseph Roman Catholic
parish.
The parish was accused under Article 5.26, Part 3 of Russia's
Administrative Code ("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"). This incurs
a fine of 30,000 to 50,000 Russian Roubles and the confiscation of any
literature or other material. Fines are typically handed down when a
community fails to give its full official name on notices outside its place
of worship or on literature it produces or distributes.
On 30 April, Judge Dmitry Sharanov sent the case back as the documents had
been prepared "by an unauthorised person", according to court records.
The case against the Catholic parish was returned to Voroshilov
Inter-District Court on 21 May. On 29 May Judge Sergey Krylovsky ruled that
the parish violated Article 5.26, Part 3 and handed down a punishment.
A Judge at the same court punished the Donetsk Jewish Religious Community
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
"offence" on 13 March. The process to liquidate the community's legal
status under Russian law began on 10 April, according to Russian tax
records.
Telephones went unanswered at Voroshilov Inter-District Court each time
Forum 18 called on 3 June.
An official of the department that registers religious communities at the
Russian-controlled Donetsk Justice Department refused to discuss the
liquidation of the Donetsk Jewish Religious Community or anything else.
"This is a state secret," the official – who gave her name only as Irina
Anatolyevna – told Forum 18 on 4 June. "I don't have the right to give
information to anyone except to the leader of the organisation."
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 – Fr Denis Marchishin from St Petersburg and Fr Vyacheslav
Gorokhov from Moscow – visited to lead worship in the Donetsk and
Makeevka parishes in Holy Week and on Easter Sunday, 20 April.
Luhansk Region: Police case against Russian visitor for "missionary
activity"
On Sunday 16 February, S. Titov, an officer of the Russian-controlled
police in Pervomaisk (official Ukrainian name Sokolohirsk) in the west of
Russian-occupied Luhansk Region, drew up a record of an offence in relation
to visiting Russian citizen Nikolai Galashev. He was accused under Article
5.26, Part 4 of Russia's Administrative Code ("Russians conducting
missionary activity").
Telephones at the Russian-controlled Pervomaisk District Police went
unanswered each time Forum 18 called on 4 June.
The case was handed to the Russian-controlled Stakhanov Town Court.
However, at Galashev's request, the court transferred the case to the court
in his home town of Koryazhma in Arkhangelsk Region of northern Russia,
where it arrived on 24 April, according to court records. (Russian law
allows administrative cases to be transferred to a court in the place where
an individual lives.) Koryazhma Town Court transferred the case to a local
magistrate's court, but this does not list it.
Court records do not indicate which community Galashev belongs to.
Enerhodar: "Missionary" fine for "so-called religious services" follows
inspection
In March, Russian officials inspected the activity of a religious community
in Enerhodar in the Russian-occupied part of Zaporizhzhia Region. The
officials said they found an individual, identified only as S., conducting
"illegal" missionary activity.
A 23 April statement by the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia Regional Court
claimed that the individual "organised a parish of the given organisation
where so-called religious services were held on Sundays". It added that a
notice on the entrance to the building gave the name of the organisation
and the times of services. It did not identify the community but claimed
that it had been banned in Russia.
The Court statement claimed that the community had violated Russia's
Religion Law and had not held a meeting to empower the individual to act as
a missionary. Nor had it informed the Russian authorities of its creation
and functioning as a religious group.
The statement also claimed that the individual was collecting tithes from
community members. The individual sent a tenth of the money collected to
the organisation's headquarters in the United States while the rest was
used for the needs of the community and charitable activity.
A case was brought against the individual under Article 5.26, Part 4 of
Russia's Administrative Code ("Russians conducting missionary activity").
A Judge at the Russian-controlled Enerhodar Town Court found the individual
guilty and handed down a fine of 40,000 Russian Roubles. This represents
about 3 weeks' average local wages.
Artyom Sharlay, the head of the Russian occupiers' Department for Work with
Ethnic, Religious and Cossack Organisations of the Social and Political
Communications Department of the Internal Policy Department of the
Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia Regional Administration, did not answer his
phone each time Forum 18 called on 3 and 4 June. (END)
More reports on freedom of thought, conscience and belief in Occupied
Ukraine (https://www.forum18.org/archi
For background information, see Forum 18's Occupied Ukraine religious
freedom survey (https://www.forum18.org/archi
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