Russian courts intensified civil bans on Baptist churches for meeting without state permission in the past year, according to rights group Forum 18.

Secret police surveillance, raids and prosecution for alleged illegal missionary activities now affect at least 10 Council of Churches Baptist communities that refuse state registration. Prohibitions have increased since 2024. 

Courts issued the three latest bans in the Krasnodar Region, stopping church activities in Timashyovsk on Oct. 13, Armavir on Sept. 30 and Tuapse on Sept. 22, Forum 18 reported. 

“This practice is only growing,” attorney and religious rights advocate Sergey Chugunov wrote on Telegram on Oct. 23, adding that authorities must overturn the bans.

A district court banned Baptist church activities in Timashyovsk four months after Prosecutor’s Office officials conducted an inspection during a June worship service. Prosecutors then launched a civil lawsuit to ban the church activities on July 10.

The Baptist Council of Churches Intercession Department later issued a statement challenging the raid’s legality, stating that “prosecutors present no indications of violations that are significant, gross, repeated, or socially significant, as Resolution No. 64 of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of 27 December 2016 requires.”

In Tuapse, prosecutors referenced earlier administration fines authorities imposed on the Rev. Anatoly Mukhi and other church members for “unlawful missionary activity” as they successfully sought a ban on the local Baptist church.

In Armavir, the city court upheld a prosecutor’s request and banned the church. The Rev. Vladimir Popov, the Baptist church pastor, had previously received multiple fines, including a 5,000 Rouble fine ($62 USD) in 2021 for leading worship in his home. He lost an appeal on a 10,000 Rouble fine ($124 USD) on Oct. 15.

Forum 18 reported that Christian groups still met “regardless of any court decisions to ban their activities.”

“In Russia, the ‘witch hunt’ is continuing,” attorney Anatoly Pchelintsev wrote on his Telegram channel Oct. 23, the same day an appeal court upheld an earlier ban on a church in Russia’s Mari El Republic.

Council of Churches Baptists claim a constitutional right as Russian citizens to gather for worship meetings without formally registering with the state. They refer to rights under the 1997 Religion Law and the Russian Constitution, alongside the country’s international human rights obligations.

Russian prosecutors argue in return that meeting religiously and sharing their faith with others defines them as a religious group, which necessitates registration. Attorneys told Forum 18 this meant other Protestant groups risked a crackdown for not registering.

“The impossibility of remedying the violation is a prerequisite for banning its activities,” legal advocate Chugunov said. “However, in these cases, courts themselves state in their decisions that activities are prohibited until notification is submitted. Consequently, the violation (even if we consider it as such) is remediable, meaning the ban is unlawful.”

State Duma deputies, the lower house of the Russian Parliament, on June 16 introduced a bill that would outright ban public worship services, religious rites and ceremonies in residences and non-residential premises of apartment buildings.

Entitled, “On Amendments to Articles 12 and 16 of the Federal Law ‘On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations,’” the bill also would prohibit the Justice Ministry from registering religious organizations conducting religious services in residential or non-residential premises.

The deputies argued that groups gathering for public religious services caused a nuisance for residents.

“Congregations of large groups of strangers who do not reside in apartment buildings, including illegal immigrants, increase the risk of worsening crime in the area, provoke domestic conflicts, and violate fire and public safety regulations,” the explanatory note for the bill states, translated from Russian.

Novaya Gazeta Europe on Aug. 12 reported the amendments would affect most prayer rooms for the Council of Churches Baptists.

The Federal Government on Oct. 1 queried the proposal, saying it needed “significant revision” since Article 16, Part 2 of the Religion Law allows that “worship services, religious rites and ceremonies carry out without hindrance...on residential premises.” It remained unclear if the State Duma would pass the bill as it stands.

“I have a question for the deputies who seem so quick to pass prohibitive and punitive laws,” attorney Pchelintsev wrote on Telegram. “What’s stopping them from introducing clarity and certainty into the legislation on this issue, so as not to harass believers?”

Other bans reported by Forum 18 include Kurganinsk Church in Krasnodar Region. Bailiffs physically sealed its building, forcing church members to meet outside. A ban enforced on Sept. 6, 2024 led to a legal challenge by the Rev. Aleksandr Chmykh. He lost appeals on Nov. 26, 2024 and on May 7. The Russian Supreme Court rejected his appeal without consideration on Aug. 29.

Rodniki Church, also in Krasnodar Region, faced a ban on Dec. 24. It came into legal force on April 3 following an unsuccessful appeal by the Rev. Vladimir Gordiyenko. The 4th Cassational Court upheld the ban on Oct. 29.

A city court banned activities of Yoshkar-Ola Church in Mari El Republic on July 24 and enforced the ban on Oct. 23 after the Supreme Court of Mari El Republic rejected an appeal.

Blagoveshchensk City Court in the Russian Far East was scheduled today (Nov. 13) to judge a civil lawsuit by prosecutors against the local Council of Churches Baptist church.