Baptists fined for “missionary activities” in Luhansk and Donetsk regions
Russian security forces in the occupied part of eastern Ukraine continue to persecute Christians: they conduct searches in houses of prayer and impose heavy fines on pastors for refusing to register.
Source: Evangelical Focus
According to the Norwegian human rights organization Forum 18, the police, together with the so-called “anti-extremist center,” regularly raid the services of the Council of Evangelical Christian Baptist Churches. These communities do not register in any country on principle in order to avoid control over church life and preserve freedom of faith.
Searches during worship services
On June 8, the occupation police disrupted the celebration of Pentecost at a Baptist church in Krasnodon (Luhansk region). And on August 10, during Sunday service in Sverdlovsk, security forces broke into the house where the community was gathered, filmed the service on camera, and searched the premises after it ended.
Law enforcement officers said they were “looking for weapons” and even photographed religious literature. Pastor Petro Tatarenko and the owner of the house were questioned about their refusal to register the community.
Heavy fines for pastors and believers
Pastor Vladimir Rytikov from Krasnodon was sentenced to a fine of 45,000 rubles (more than a month’s salary in the region). He was charged with “illegal missionary activity.” Despite an appeal, the “Supreme Court of the LPR” upheld the sentence. More than 50 believers attended the hearing to support the pastor.
“We do not register because it means reporting to the authorities about the lives of church members and worship services. That would be a betrayal,” Rytikov explained. He himself is a pensioner and cares for his adult disabled son.
Another believer, Oksana Volyanska from Donetsk, was accused of distributing Christian literature “without the full official name of the organization.” She was fined 10,000 rubles and ordered to destroy the religious books.
Similar sentences were handed down to other Protestant communities registered under Russian law, as well as to local Catholics and the Jewish community.
Christians are being replaced by “extremists”
In fact, the occupying authorities equate the very right to gather for prayer with “illegal activity.” The tactic of “administrative pressure” is designed to force communities to either close down or agree to full control by the Russian special services.
These actions are part of a broader system of persecution of Protestants and other religious minorities in the occupied territories. They constitute a gross violation of freedom of conscience and religion, which are guaranteed by international law.
Christians in Ukraine call for prayers for those who are persecuted and remember the words of Christ: “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:10).
