Source: www.forum18.org
Date: August 20, 2025
https://www.forum18.org/archiv
By Victoria Arnold, Forum 18
Courts in Russia have prohibited the activities of several Council of
Churches Baptist communities because of their refusal to seek any form of
state registration. Prosecutors are seeking similar bans on at least
another three, Forum 18 has found. Once a court ruling enters legal force,
church leaders are at risk of fines if they continue to conduct worship
services, and bailiffs may seal church buildings, preventing access by
congregations.
One community, in Kurganinsk in Krasnodar Region, has been regularly
meeting for worship outside its building over three months since officials
sealed it in May. Their appeal to the Supreme Court in Moscow is due to be
heard on 28 August (see below).
"Last Sunday I witnessed church members old and young praying on their
knees, right on the pavement," a Baptist noted in late July. "The brothers
have one heart and one spirit. The church defends its independence from the
state" (see below).
Neither Krasnodar Regional Prosecutor's Office nor Kurganinsk District
Court responded to Forum 18 as to why they had been involved in prohibiting
the church's activities (see below).
The number of such prohibitions – imposed specifically for failing to
notify Justice Ministry authorities of the beginning of a religious group's
activities – has risen noticeably in recent years, a lawyer familiar with
the situation confirmed to Forum 18. So far in 2024-25, five churches have
either already been banned or are facing lawsuits. In 2023 there appear to
have been no such cases, with two in 2022 and one in 2021.
Despite prosecutors' claims of protecting public order and state security
by seeking bans on their activities, these communities do not engage in any
violent or disruptive actions or violations of others' human rights.
The recent trend of prohibiting Council of Churches Baptists' activities
appears to be particularly pronounced in the southern Krasnodar Region,
with four of the known lawsuits taking place there. There have been others
in each of the Mari El Republic and Ulyanovsk Region in central Russia, the
Far Eastern Amur Region, and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug in Western
Siberia.
Exactly why Krasnodar Region should be seeing so many bans is unclear. It
is likely partly linked to the high number of administrative prosecutions
in the Region for "unlawful missionary activity", which usually form part
of the evidence in such lawsuits.
Why this practice appears to have accelerated recently is "difficult to
say", the lawyer added, but "In my opinion, the state is trying to give
some legal status to communities in this way, so that it will be easier to
control their activities".
"Citizens have the right to practice religion together without creating
religious associations. If citizens say that they have not created any
group, then this is their legal right", Sergey Chugunov, another lawyer who
has worked on such cases, wrote on his Telegram channel. "To prove the
opposite, criteria prescribed by law are needed." Without such criteria,
bans on individuals for meeting to exercise freedom of religion or belief
"contradict the current law and the Constitution" (see below).
"The problem is not being solved deliberately," Chugunov believes. "Because
if criteria for creating religious groups are prescribed [as the Religion
Law currently does not], this will clearly distinguish this right from the
right to gather without creating associations." He blames the "regulatory
authorities", not believers, for "emerging tensions" in state-religious
relations. "Believers are within their rights" (see below).
So far, Council of Churches Baptists appear to be the only religious
community affected by this trend, lawyers have told Forum 18. Some other
communities also worship without either registering as religious
organisations or submitting notification of the creation of a religious
group. This means that it is technically possible that they too may be
vulnerable to lawsuits. These may include some other Protestants and some
Muslims (for example, small rural congregations, or students or migrant
workers who worship together informally in hostels or workplaces).
Refusal to accept state control
Refusal to register their communities or otherwise accept state regulation
has been a key element of Council of Churches Baptists' identity since
their emergence in the Soviet Union in the 1960s.
This came about as the result of division between those Soviet Baptists who
operated within the state-approved Baptist Union - abiding by the
Khrushchev government's restrictions on religious life (including on the
content of sermons, the appointment of pastors, and the involvement of
children in religious communities) - and those who actively rejected these
restrictions and established their own Council, worshipping and teaching
underground.
Since the collapse of the USSR, Council of Churches Baptists have met
openly, but in private homes or prayer houses built on private land. They
do not seek state permission to exercise their freedom of religion or
belief, as is their right under international human rights law
(https://www.osce.org/odihr/13
Council of Churches Baptists argue that the 1997 Religion Law and the
Russian Constitution – as well as Russia's international human rights
obligations - permit them to meet for worship without state involvement.
Council of Churches Baptists now meet in about 2,500 congregations, Novaya
Gazeta Europe noted on 12 August 2025
(https://novayagazeta.eu/artic
Future threat to worship in residential property?
On 16 June 2025, a group of State Duma deputies introduced a bill
(https://sova-center.ru/religi
which, if passed, would outlaw public worship services and religious rites
and ceremonies on residential premises and in the non-residential parts of
blocks of flats.
The Duma is likely to consider the bill in its autumn session, which begins
in September, according to its website.
"These amendments would affect the absolute majority of prayer rooms of the
[Council of Churches Baptists]", Novaya Gazeta Europe observed on 12
August.
How are communities banned?
The procedure of banning a community's activities may begin with an
inspection by prosecutor's office officials, usually accompanied by police
or Federal Security Service (FSB) personnel, carried out to check
"compliance with legislation on freedom of conscience and religious
associations", in some cases also anti-extremism legislation and fire
safety.
In addition, prosecutors may summon pastors for "conversations" about why
they have not submitted notification of the beginning of their religious
groups' activities.
(These actions may derive from FSB or police surveillance or internet
monitoring, or an earlier administrative prosecution of a church leader or
member for "unlawful missionary activity". Missionary-related prosecutions
may also follow inspections.)
Prosecutors then lodge an administrative or civil lawsuit at a district
court "in the interests of an undefined circle of persons". Prosecutors
request that the judge prohibit the activities of the church "until
violations are eliminated", i.e. until the community submits the required
notification (which, on principle, Council of Churches Baptists will not
do).
Once a court ruling enters legal force (after one month or upon an
unsuccessful appeal), it is subject to enforcement by local bailiffs. If
they believe a church is continuing to operate, they may issue a fine to
the pastor. Ultimately, they may seal the church's building to prevent its
use for worship.
"There is no way to circumvent a court ban, otherwise that will also be
punishable by law," the lawyer familiar with such cases explained to Forum
18. Court decisions explicitly prohibit a community's activities not only
at the address they habitually use, but also "on the territory of" the town
or district. This means that they cannot simply move to different premises.
One district court has stated to Forum 18 that a church would be permitted
to resume its activities if it submitted the required notification. It
appears, however, that no Council of Churches Baptist community has done
this.
(Bailiffs ended enforcement proceedings against the Baptist community in
Ulyanovsk, whose activities a court prohibited in 2022, on 27 March 2024,
the Council of Churches Intercession Department announced on 4 April 2024.
According to the resolution document, seen by Forum 18, this was done on
the grounds of "actual fulfilment of requirements". The Intercession
Department confirmed to Forum 18, however, that Baptists in Ulyanovsk did
not submit notification, and they are unsure why proceedings against them
were brought to an end.)
Legal context
A 2015 amendment to the Religion Law required all unregistered religious
associations to notify the authorities (usually regional branches of the
Justice Ministry) of their existence and activities. This includes
providing the names and addresses of all their members, and addresses where
any meeting takes place.
Originally, leaders of religious groups – which are not legal entities
– only had to submit such notification once every three years. In 2021,
however, further amendments to the Religion Law introduced a requirement to
submit notification every year
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
information as was previously only required at the beginning of a group's
existence.
Failure to notify does not constitute a specific offence, although it can
be prosecuted under Administrative Code Article 19.5 ("Failure to comply
with a legal order (resolution, submission, decision) of a body (official)
exercising state supervision (control)". Legislators in Bashkortostan
proposed amendments to the federal Religion Law in 2016, which would have
a) clarified the requirement for religious groups to submit notification,
and b) introduced fines for non-compliance. The State Duma eventually
rejected this on 8 February 2023.
On 27 December 2016, the Plenum of the Supreme Court issued a resolution
partially clarifying the process
(https://www.consultant.ru/doc
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".
Point 26 of the resolution acknowledges that "the law does not establish a
list of gross violations", and therefore it is up to the courts to "assess
whether a violation of the law committed by a citizens' association is
gross and entails liquidation or prohibition of activities" (gross
violations may include: "actions aimed at denying fundamental democratic
principles, rights or freedoms recognised by the Constitution of the
Russian Federation, generally recognised principles and norms of
international law, international treaties of the Russian Federation,
federal laws and other regulatory legal acts, at promoting war or inciting
national, racial or religious hatred, calls for discrimination, hostility
or violence" or actions which present "a real threat or has caused harm to
the life [or] health of citizens, the environment, public order and safety,
property, legitimate economic interests of individuals and (or) legal
entities, society and the state".
Council of Churches Baptists argue that they are individual citizens
gathering to worship together as is their constitutional right, without the
establishment of any formal association. Prosecutors argue that what they
do – meeting regularly, performing "religious rites and ceremonies",
sometimes sharing their faith with others – means that they constitute a
religious group as defined by the Religion Law. Prosecutors try to show
this in court by reference, for instance, to numbers gathering at a
particular location on a particular day, collective prayer and hymn
singing, and administrative convictions for "unlawful missionary activity".
The Religion Law does not set out a specific process for the creation of a
religious group. After a court banned their community's activities
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
submitted notification and subsequently carried out "unlawful missionary
activity", Council of Churches Baptists in Anapa appealed to the
Constitutional Court to clarify this.
The Constitutional Court refused to consider the appeal
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
ruling on 29 September 2022 that "the implementation by citizens (foreign
citizens, stateless persons) of missionary activity on behalf of a
religious group, in turn testifies to the creation of such a group, the
legal existence of which presupposes notification of the beginning of its
activity".
"Therefore, any joint confession can still be interpreted by law
enforcement as the creation of a religious group that has not notified [the
Justice Ministry] of its activities", the Baptists' lawyer Sergey Chugunov
commented on his Telegram channel (https://t.me/chugunovsv/87) after the
ruling on 3 November 2022. "In my opinion, such an approach can only mean
that the problem we raised will not be addressed. The uncertainty of the
law is obviously beneficial to law enforcement."
"Citizens have the right to practice religion together without creating
religious associations," Chugunov noted on 18 May 2025
(https://t.me/chugunovsv/404). "If citizens say that they have not created
any group, then this is their legal right. To prove the opposite, criteria
prescribed by law are needed. Without such criteria, all decisions to
prohibit citizens from gathering contradict current legislation and the
Constitution of the Russian Federation."
"The problem is not being solved deliberately," Chugunov believes. "Because
if criteria for creating religious groups are prescribed [as the Religion
Law currently does not], this will clearly distinguish this right from the
right to gather without creating associations. As a result, we have
emerging tensions in state-religious relations, the blame for which, in my
opinion, lies with the regulatory authorities, and not with believers.
Believers are within their rights."
Lawsuits 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 the 2022 Constitutional Court ruling, and because it provides
additional grounds for prohibition, given that lack of notification is in
itself not enough.
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 Constitutional Court ruling
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
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").
Krasnodar Region: Bailiffs seal church in Kurganinsk
On 16 May 2025, bailiffs sealed the doors of the Council of Churches
Baptist church at 95 Engels Street in the Krasnodar Region town of
Kurganinsk. They were enforcing a court order issued more than eight months
earlier, prohibiting the activities of the more than 600-strong community
unless it submitted notification of its existence. Three days later,
officials warned Pastor Aleksandr Chmykh that unless he fulfilled the
court's demands, he would face criminal prosecution.
The church had been meeting in its place of worship which it built in 2012
to replace an earlier structure dating from 1991.
In the three months since bailiffs sealed the church building, Baptists
have met regularly for worship outside. Having exhausted all options for
appeal in lower courts, the community is now awaiting the consideration of
their appeal to the Supreme Court in Moscow. This is due to hear the case
on 28 August 2025.
"Last Sunday I witnessed church members old and young praying on their
knees, right on the pavement," the administrator of Portal Vernost, a
Baptist Telegram channel, wrote on 29 July
(https://t.me/vernost_info/116
spirit. The church defends its independence from the state. The church in
Kurganinsk needs our prayers for steadfastness and faithfulness to the
end."
Kurganinsk District Court banned the church's activities on 6 September
2024, upholding an administrative lawsuit lodged by Kurganinsk District
Prosecutor's Office "in the interests of an undefined circle of persons".
This was despite the church's lawyer's argument that "the law in terms of
the obligation to submit notification contradicts the Constitution of the
Russian Federation and violates freedom of religion, and also interferes
with the activities of the Church".
According to the court ruling, seen by Forum 18, prosecutors argued that
"In the building of the House of Prayer .. with the participation of
residents of [Krasnodar Region] and neighbouring regions, including minors
and missionaries and foreign citizens, illegal missionary religious events
are systematically held". They requested that the court ban the community's
activities on the territory of Kurganinsk "until the violations are
eliminated by submitting notification to the Office of the Ministry of
Justice of Krasnodar Region about the beginning of the group's activities".
Judge Vitaly Yakonov stated that "Despite the fact that this group has
existed for many years, [and] the provisions of the law on submitting
notification of the creation and operation of a religious group have been
in effect since 2015, to date this group has not notified [the Justice
Ministry] in writing of the beginning of the activities of the religious
group.."
The Judge concluded that this "leads to a violation of the [1997 Religion
Law] and creates a threat to the security of public interests, national
security, [and] public order, as well as the rights and interests of an
undefined circle of persons involved in the activities of the group through
illegal missionary activity".
Pastor Aleksandr Chmykh appealed unsuccessfully against the ruling at
Krasnodar Regional Court on 26 November 2024 (after which the decision
entered legal force), and again at the 4th Cassational Court in Krasnodar
on 7 May 2025. Throughout this time, the church continued to hold services,
meetings and conferences.
Bailiffs fined Pastor Chmykh 50,000 Roubles on 13 February 2025 for "not
fulfilling the demands of the court", the Caucasian Association of Council
of Churches Baptists noted (https://t.me/s/kavkaz_ehb/156
yet appear to be subject to criminal prosecution.
Forum 18 wrote to Kurganinsk District Court asking:
- why it had upheld the prosecutors' request to prohibit the church's
activities;
- and whether the church would be able to resume operations if it submits
notification of its existence.
The court press service's response of 17 March ignored Forum 18's first
question. The response confirmed, however, that the court decision
suspended the church's activities "until the elimination of violations by
means of sending notification of the beginning of the activities of a
religious group to the Office of the Justice Ministry for Krasnodar Region.
After the elimination of violations, activity can be resumed."
Forum 18 wrote to Krasnodar Regional Prosecutor's Office on 8 August,
asking why prosecutors had sought a ban on the church's activities. Forum
18 had received no reply by the end of the working day of 20 August.
"Any citizen has the right to profess any religion with others, both by
creating religious associations and without creating them", the Council of
Churches Intercession Department stated in its account of the case on 24
May 2025 (https://graph.org/Soobshcheni
right to gather together and pray without fulfilling any conditions. The
law does not provide for punishment for failure to submit notification.
Thus, all decisions to prohibit citizens from gathering contradict current
legislation and the Constitution of the Russian Federation."
Surveillance, multiple prosecutions
The Kurganinsk prosecutors based their lawsuit on the prosecution of Pastor
Aleksandr Chmykh for "unlawful missionary activity", videos of worship
services and other events on the church's YouTube channel, and their own
inspection of the premises, itself triggered by FSB surveillance of
"systematic conduct of illegal missionary religious events", including "an
unauthorised mass event 'Conference on Evangelism' of the Caucasian
Association of the International Union of Churches of Evangelical
Christians-Baptists", attended by more than 1,000 people.
Kurganinsk District Magistrate's Court No. 167 fined Pastor Chmykh
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Administrative Code Article 5.26, Part 4 ("Russians conducting missionary
activity") on 18 March 2024 for having "organised and conducted worship
services in Kurganinsk, by which he violated the requirements of the
[Religion Law], namely, he did not submit in the established order
notification of the beginning of the activities of the religious group to
the Justice Ministry".
The worship services in question were in fact a two-day conference of the
Caucasian Association of Council of Churches in January 2024, according to
the Council of Churches-Baptists Intercession Department. Five other
Baptists who participated in the event were also prosecuted
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Part 4.
Forum 18 wrote to Kurganinsk District Magistrate's Court No. 167 on 11
March to ask why it had found Pastor Chmykh guilty of "unlawful missionary
activity" when the events in question took place inside the church and only
fellow Baptists were present. Forum 18 had received no response by the end
of the working day of 20 August.
Forum 18 wrote to the Krasnodar Region branch of the Federal Security
Service (FSB) on 7 March, asking why a church conference was considered an
"unauthorised mass event" when held inside the church itself, and why it
was considered "unlawful missionary activity" if only fellow believers were
present. Forum 18 had received no response by the end of the working day of
20 August.
On the second day of another conference on 14-15 December 2024, a police
inspector arrived at the church. He questioned church leaders, and drew up
two protocols against Pastor Chmykh under Article 5.26, Part 4, one for
each day of the event. He did not interrupt the worship service, the
Council of Churches Intercession Department noted
(https://telegra.ph/Soobshchen
On 10 February 2025, the magistrate's court again found Pastor Chmykh
guilty and fined him a total of 20,000 Roubles for the two alleged offences
of conducting "unlawful missionary activity" without having submitted
notification of the activities of a religious group. His appeals to
Kurganinsk District Court and the 4th Cassational Court were rejected
without consideration, the last of them on 18 June 2025.
Krasnodar Region: Belorechensk Court ban in force but church still active
Belorechensk District Court banned the activities of the Council of
Churches Baptist church in the village of Rodniki on Christmas Eve, 24
December 2024. The ruling came into force on 3 April 2025, when Pastor
Vladimir Gordiyenko appealed unsuccessfully at Krasnodar Regional Court.
Belorechensk Inter-District Prosecutor's Office lodged its administrative
lawsuit on 15 November 2024, requesting that the court prohibit the
church's activities until the "violations" it had found during an
inspection are "eliminated", ie. notification submitted. Again, prosecutors
linked this to convictions of church members for "unlawful missionary
activity". Unlike in other cases, however, this occurred outside the
community's place of worship, when church members visited Belorechensk
Central District Hospital at Easter 2024.
Zinaida Shcherbakova, Aleksandr Skorev, Ali Gamoyev, Pavel Litovkin, and
Daniil Litovkin sang hymns, handed out gifts, and distributed copies of the
Baptist newspaper "Do you believe?". A hospital doctor reported this to
police, who charged all five under Administrative Code Article 5.26, Part 4
for having carried out missionary activity without notifying the Justice
Ministry of the existence of their religious group.
Belorechensk District Magistrate's Court No. 127 fined all five church
members 5,000 Roubles each on 2 August 2024 (only Daniil Litovkin appealed,
unsuccessfully, at Belorechensk District Court on 27 September 2024).
In their inspection of "compliance with legislation on freedom of
conscience and religious associations", prosecutors found that Pastor
Gordiyenko "is not taking measures to eliminate violations in the
activities of the religious group 'House of Prayer of Evangelical
Christian-Baptists' .. namely, that the religious group has not notified
[the Justice Ministry] in writing of the beginning of the activities of the
religious group".
The church's lawyer argued in court that any obligation to submit
notification "must be supported by a measure of state coercion, which in
itself violations the constitutional principle of freedom of conscience".
The lawyer argued that prosecutors had incorrectly interpreted Article 7 of
the Religion Law (on religious groups) and Article 14, which sets out
reasons for prohibiting the activities of a religious association, which
include, among others, coercion, incitement to suicide, and use of
narcotics, but not failure to submit notification.
Judge Roman Cherepov nevertheless agreed with the Justice Ministry's
written submission to the court, which stated: "[The Religion Law] links
the right of a religious group to carry out missionary activities .. with
compliance with the specified notification procedure for the activities of
religious groups", and that while "religious organisations have the right
to conduct religious rites and ceremonies in medical and hospital
institutions at the request of citizens located therein", the church is not
a religious organisation, "which confirms that it is carrying out unlawful
missionary activities".
The Rodniki church, which has existed since 1996, appears to have remained
active since the court decision entered legal force. Like its counterpart
in Kurganinsk, however, it is now vulnerable to being sealed by bailiffs.
The community has not yet lodged a cassational appeal, but has until 15
October 2025 to do so.
Forum 18 asked Krasnodar Regional Prosecutor's Office on 8 August why
prosecutors had sought a ban on the church's activities.
The same day, Forum 18 asked Kurganinsk District Court:
- why it had upheld the prosecutors' request to prohibit the church's
activities;
- and whether the church would be able to resume operations if it submits
notification of its existence.
Forum 18 had received no reply from either by the end of the working day of
20 August.
Mari El Republic: Yoshkar-Ola Court bans church's activities, ruling not
yet in force
On 24 July 2025, Yoshkar-Ola City Court upheld prosecutors' request to have
the activities of the city's Council of Churches Baptist church prohibited
"until violations of federal legislation are eliminated by submitting
notification of the beginning of activities of the religious group",
according to the court ruling, seen by Forum 18.
Yoshkar-Ola City Prosecutor's Office, which lodged its administrative
lawsuit on 23 June 2025, noted that the church "carries out religious
worship, accordingly its activities affect the rights and legitimate
interests of an undefined circle of persons".
The lawsuit named four church members – Viktor Araslanov and Svetlana
Araslanova (in whose house the congregation meets), Ferdinand Gayfullin,
and Anatoly Chendemerov – as respondents in the case. They now have until
5 September 2025 to appeal.
In this instance, prosecutions for "unlawful missionary activity" from
several years before formed part of the basis for the lawsuit. "The
prosecutor referred to the fact that, in 2020, some respondents were fined
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Code Article 5.26, Part 4 ("Russians conducting missionary activity") and
Article 8.8 Part 1, a lawyer familiar with the case noted to Forum 18. "The
court accepted this as evidence that the religious group actually existed
and moreover, committed violations of the law."
The church members' lawyer argued that they posed no threat to public order
or security, and that only relatives and acquaintances attend the weekly
Sunday meetings in order to pray together, not carry out missionary
activity.
Judge Irina Smirnova disagreed, concluding that the religious group's
failure over many years to submit notification "leads to a violation of
[the Religion Law] and creates a threat to the security of public
interests, national security, public order, as well as the rights and
interests of an undefined circle of persons involved in the activities of
the group through unlawful missionary activity".
As well as the lack of notification and the five-year-old convictions for
"unlawful missionary activity", the judge took into account FSB
surveillance of the Araslanovs' house. This had observed that "30 people
entered the building .. and were inside it at the same time". The judge
also took account of the testimony of a witness, who said that an elderly
man had given him a religious brochure near the city's central market in
the spring of 2025 and invited him to Sunday services.
When the witness attended, "about 60 people were in the room, including
children, the meeting was led by Viktor Araslanov, he read and commented on
passages from Holy Scripture, then hymn singing and general prayers began,
those who spoke called their meeting a church, in the second half of the
event the communion ceremony was held".
Forum 18 asked Yoshkar-Ola City Prosecutor's Office on 11 August why it had
sought a ban on the church's activities.
Forum 18 asked Yoshkar-Ola City Court on 8 August:
- why it had upheld prosecutors' request to prohibit the church's
activities;
- and whether this prohibition would be lifted if the community submitted
notification. Forum 18 had received no reply from either by the end of the
working day of 20 August.
Two more churches in court: Blagoveshchensk and Timashyovsk
On 30 September 2025, Blagoveshchensk City Court in the Russian Far East is
due to consider a civil lawsuit brought by prosecutors seeking to ban the
activities of the Council of Churches Baptist church in the city.
The City Prosecutor's Office, the Amur Region branch of the FSB and
National Guard, and Emergencies Ministry personnel carried out an
"inspection of the legality of the use of the house of prayer" on 27 May
2025. They questioned Pastor Vladislav Girko.
Officials then summoned him twice in early June to the prosecutor's office,
"where he was familiarised with the lawsuit to compel the registration of
the church", the Urgent Prayer Messages Telegram channel reported on 13
June 2025 (https://t.me/dasistfurgebiet/
"The 'inspection' predictably 'revealed' the illegality of holding
religious meetings in the house, and during the 'questioning' Girko was
strongly recommended to register the community, warning that in case of
refusal, criminal liability would follow", Novaya Gazeta Europe commented
on the case on 12 August 2025
(https://novayagazeta.eu/artic
Prosecutors lodged their lawsuit on 11 June 2025 (why this is a civil,
rather than an administrative, suit is unclear).
Prosecutors also charged Pastor Girko with "unlawful missionary activity"
under Administrative Code Article 5.26, Part 4 and "violation of
requirements for anti-terrorist protection of a facility" under
Administrative Code Article 20.35, Part 2. A magistrate's court fined him
5,000 Roubles on 29 July 2025 for the former offence, according to Novaya
Gazeta Europe. It is unclear which court considered the case, or whether
the "anti-terrorism" prosecution reached court. Girko's appeal against the
Article 5.26 conviction is due to be heard at Blagoveshchensk City Court on
8 September 2025.
On 3 September 2025, Timashyovsk District Court in Krasnodar Region is due
to rule on whether to prohibit the activities of Timashyovsk's Council of
Churches Baptist church. It had postponed the hearing from 19 August.
Timashyovsk District Prosecutor's Office lodged its lawsuit – also a
civil suit – on 10 July 2025. According to Baptist Telegram channels,
prosecutors are again accusing the community of having carried out
"unlawful missionary activity". There appear to have been no recent
prosecutions of church members under Article 5.26, Part 4 in the local
area.
Nikolay Antonyuk is a pastor at the Timashyovsk church and chair of the
Council of Churches since 2009. A court fined him for "unlawful missionary
activity" at the same 2024 conference in Kurganinsk which led to the
prosecution of Kurganinsk pastor Aleksandr Chmykh and the later banning of
his church's activities. (END)
More reports on freedom of thought, conscience and belief in Russia
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
For background information see Forum 18's Russia religious freedom survey
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Forum 18's compilation of Organisation for Security and Co-operation in
Europe (OSCE) freedom of religion or belief commitments
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