Individuals and religious organisations continue to be brought to court across Russia on administrative charges of “unlawful missionary activity”.

According to the Norwegian human rights group Forum 18, there were at least 34 prosecutions on this issue in the first four months of 2025.

Both the number of prosecutions identified by Forum 18 and the figures recorded by the Supreme Court suggest a slight increase compared to recent years, particularly among Muslims.

Russians and foreigners

Of the 34 prosecutions, 26 were under Article 5.26, Part 4 of the Administrative Code, which deals with 'Russians conducting missionary activity', and 9 under Part 5, for 'foreigners conducting missionary activity', although the true number is believed to be higher.

Russian citizens found guilty of “unlawful missionary activity” can receive fines of 5,000 to 50,000 Roubles, while foreign citizens can be fined 30,000 to 50,000 Roubles. They may also be expelled from the country.

Registered organisations (also prosecuted under Part 4) can be fined up to 100,000 Roubles.

Furthermore, amendments to several articles of the Administrative Code came into force on 5 February 2025, which allow police to handle Article 5.26, Part 5 cases without going to court and impose both fines and administrative expulsion as punishment.

That is why “it is difficult to ascertain how many foreign citizens may be facing prosecution for unlawful missionary activity, unless they manage to lodge appeals”, explains Forum 18.

“The chances of protecting your rights are significantly reduced. The citizen will need to appeal against the decision in court themselves, asking for it to be suspended. But by that time, the probability is high that such a citizen will already have been forced to leave the Russian Federation”, pointed out lawyer Sergey Chugunov.

The amendments also prohibit “missionary activity” on residential premises, or by anyone who is a former member of an “extremist” religious groups.

12 prosecutions of evangelicals

Twelve of the thirty-four cases recorded up to the end of April 2025 affected evangelicals, mostly to the Council of Baptist churches.

Three pastors of the Council of Baptist churches were fined with 5,000 Roubles each for “preaching and distributing a religious newspaper to people at worship services who were not members of religious group”.

Witnesses stated that they attended on invitation of woman at bus stop, and that they were Orthodox and unfamiliar with Baptist church. A witness filmed part of the service and apparently passed the footage to police.

Another Baptist pastor was fined twice with 20,000 Roubles in total, because he allegedly “carried out missionary activity with an undetermined circle of persons, without having submitted notification of the start of activities of a religious group, and without written authorisation”.

The court prosecuted an evangelical pastor, and accused him of holding an informational and educational event called The Nativity of Christ at a cultural centre.

The event included “explanation of individual biblical themes with a distortion of the historical understanding of the nativity and the performance of hymns characteristic of Protestant denominations" to “persons who are not members (followers), i without written authorisation to carry out missionary activity”.

Other pastors were charged for preaching in private houses, or leading a worship service without having notified the Justice Ministry of existence of religious group, among other reasons.

Registration of churches

Moreover, religious organisations also continue to face prosecution under article 5.26, Part 3 ("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").

On 16 May 2025, bailiffs sealed a Baptist church in Kurganinsk (Krasnodar region) whose activities had been banned in September 2024. Churches in Belorechensk (also Krasnodar region), Tula, and Blagoveshchensk are also facing a similar ban on activities.

Among evangelicals, the Council of Churches Baptists has also faced increasing rates of prosecution for the fact that they do not submit notification to the authorities of the creation of a religious group.

“In some cases, this has been used as partial grounds for prosecutors to seek a ban on their activities”, says Forum 18.

Russia has also imposed its "anti-missionary" legislation in occupied Ukrainian territories.

A restrictive law

On July 2016, President Vladimir Putin signed amendments to the Religion Law imposing tight restrictions on the sharing of beliefs, including on where and by whom they may be shared.

The amendments effectively banned broadly defined "missionary activity" by anyone without written permission from an officially recognised religious association, any activity performed by religious organisations not using their full legal names, or outside the church buildings.