Christians in Russia and Russian-occupied Ukraine face increasing persecution

Christians are suffering serious religious liberty violations in Russia and Russian-occupied Ukraine, Release International has warned.

The non-profit organisation says the dimensions of the hostility is paying homage to Soviet-era repression, with imprisonment, torture, and murder all on the rise. 

In Russia, Christian preacher Eduard Charov is facing trial after questioning the morality of the war in Ukraine on social media.

His 2023 post read ,”Would Jesus Christ have gone to kill in Ukraine?”

In occupied Ukraine, a Christian leader has been jailed over public opposition to the war, and churches that share this view are vulnerable to demolition or other types of intimidation, Release said.

A Protestant woman, named only as Olena, from Melitopol in occupied Ukraine, is being held in a jail in Donetsk over remarks she made at a prayer meeting. She was attributable to stand trial on 15 August for spreading ‘knowingly false information’ about Russia’s armed forces, and faces as much as 10 years in prison. 

Release CEO Paul Robinson said that the cases “reflect the rising persecution of Christians in Russia and in Russian-occupied Ukraine”. 

“Christian leaders have been tortured, disappeared, and murdered for taking a Christian stand, in what looks worryingly like a return to the bad old days of Christian persecution under the Soviet Union,” he said. 

Charov, who runs a homeless shelter together with his wife, is attributable to stand trial this month and is expecting a jail sentence. 

He told the Russian media outlet Takiye Dela: “I have already got a suitcase packed at home. My wife will take care of the shelter within the meantime. And I’ll proceed to assist people in prison. There are people in need all over the place.”

The 53 12 months old faces as much as seven years in prison or a high-quality of as much as one million roubles. 

The plight of Christians speaking out against the war was highlighted by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom in its most up-to-date report.

“State retaliation against those that spoke out against Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine using religious language or on moral grounds [has] continued at startling heights,” it said. 

“In Russian-occupied territories [of Ukraine], de facto authorities banned religious groups, raided houses of worship, and disappeared religious leaders.

“In the Zaporizhzhia region, Russian authorities banned the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and closed Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Roman Catholic, and Baptist churches. At the top of the 12 months, the whereabouts of several priests whom Russian forces had detained … remained unknown.”