Russian Police and Anti-Extremism Police carried out two raids in occupied Ukraine on the Council of Churches Baptist worship meetings, on June 8 in Krasnodon and August 10 in Sverdlovsk.
The Russian occupation authorities continue to raid places of worship, particularly those of the Council of Churches Baptist (CCB). These congregations have chosen not to seek official registration in any country where they operate. They also refuse to notify the authorities of the start of their activity. Russian officials claim that their exercise of freedom of religion or belief – including meeting for worship or sharing their faith – is therefore illegal.
The police raided a CCB congregation in Sverdlovsk on August 10. Russian-controlled courts continue to impose punishments for meeting for worship or sharing faith without Russian permission.
On 10 August, Russian Police and Anti-Extremism Police raided the Sunday morning meeting for worship of the CCB congregation in Sverdlovsk [or, Dovzshansk, its official Ukrainian name] in Russian-occupied Luhansk Region. Officers filmed those present.
When the church finished its worship service, police officers searched the home where the church meets. Police informed church members they had a search warrant, as officials suspected the church had weapons. Officers also photographed religious literature they found in the church.
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Earlier in the summer, in Russian-occupied Luhansk Region, officials had raided a CCB congregation in Krasnodon [Sorokyne in Ukrainian] on Pentecost Sunday. A month later, the Russian-controlled Krasnodon Town Court found Pastor Vladimir Rytikov guilty of “missionary activity” for leading his unregistered church and fined him more than a month’s average local wages, even though Pastor Rytikov is a pensioner.
“Krasnodon District Prosecutor’s Office has been conducting an inspection in Krasnodon and Krasnodon District of the observance of the demands of [Russian] legislation on freedom of conscience and religious associations,” Acting Prosecutor of Krasnodon District, Artur Kondratenko, told Pastor Rytikov in a letter summoning him to court.
Pastor Rytikov appealed against the fine to the Russian-controlled Luhansk Supreme Court, but the appeal was rejected and the punishment remained unchanged.
Local Baptists describe the accusation that the church had not notified the Russian authorities of the start of its activity as a religious group as “baseless”. They point out that Russia’s 1997 Religion Law “makes no connection between the possibility of holding services, religious rites and ceremonies with the action of founding a religious association or submitting notification to the justice agencies”.
These are not the only instances of religious persecution in occupied Ukraine. Four other courts in Russian-occupied Donetsk Region are known to have fined individuals for “missionary activity” in the summer. Courts are also known to have punished at least one community in May and two more in June for failing to register their full, official name.
In a May report to the United Nations Human Rights Council on the situation of human rights in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, UN Secretary-General António Guterres repeated earlier UN calls for Russia to respect freedom of religion or belief. “The occupying authorities of the Russian Federation continued to restrict the right to freedom of religion and belief for certain religious communities in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine,” he declared.
"Religious groups in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine should enjoy access to their places of worship and be able to gather freely for prayer and other religious practices."
“No individual should be criminally charged or detained simply for practising their religion, including in the forms of collective worship and proselytizing, in accordance with international human rights law,” Secretary-General Guterres insisted. “Religious groups in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine should enjoy access to their places of worship and be able to gather freely for prayer and other religious practices.”
Russia ranked outside the top 50 countries on the 2025 World Watch List, landing at number 56. Despite this, it still is considered to have “very high” levels of persecution.
