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Torture, Fines, Deportations: How Russia Is Waging War on Religious Minorities
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![Photo of Roman Kohanets]( "Photo of Roman Kohanets")
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Russia continues to perpetuate “particularly severe” religious liberty violations against minority groups within its borders and in occupied Ukrainian territories, according to the June 30 report by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).
The report details “intense persecution” of Ukrainian Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant Christians, as well as targeting human rights activists, independent media, and anti-war protesters on the basis of their faith.
“Russian authorities abuse vague and problematic laws to target religious communities that do not conform to state authority,” said USCIRF Chair Vicky Hartzler.
“There is no religious freedom in Russia or [the] territories it occupies,” she added, highlighting that the government deems groups such as Catholics, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Falun Gong practitioners, Protestants, Ukrainian Christians, and Crimean Tatar Muslims threats to its control.
Russian de facto authorities have banned:
Orthodox Church of Ukraine;
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church;
Jehovah’s Witnesses;
several Protestant denominations, including Baptists, Pentecostals, and Seventh-day Adventists.
In occupied Crimea, the final Orthodox Church of Ukraine parish was demolished in July 2024, and Russian forces allegedly abducted and tortured to death priest Stepan Podolchak.
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Within Russia, authorities have leveraged laws against “so-called illegal missionary activities,” prosecuting 431 cases in 2024 and imposing fines totaling nearly $60,000. In one case, an 85-year-old Polish Catholic priest—who had served in Russia for almost 30 years—was deported after losing the documentation permitting him to preach. Courts have also shuttered churches under these laws.
The commission’s findings extend to Russia’s Muslim minority, with at least 352 individuals prosecuted for alleged ties to Hizb ut-Tahrir—despite no evidence of violence—resulting in 280 convictions and sentences of up to 15 years. Leaders and members of Scientology, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Falun Gong, and the Allya Ayat movement have similarly been targeted under extremist designations.
Earlier, it was reported that the Russian Orthodox Church absorbed over 1,600 parishes and 23 monasteries in occupied Ukrainian territories, incorporating them into its jurisdiction and pressuring clergy to cooperate with occupation authorities while suppressing independent Ukrainian churches.
