Russia is once again suppressed for religion and freedom
June 7th

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, restrictions on the freedom of churches and citizens have intensified under the Russian dictatorship.

In Russia, between 12 million and 20 million Christians were sacrificed during the former Soviet rule. The Soviet Union carried out an extensive anti-religious propaganda campaign. Communism harshly persecuted any sign of biblical faith. In the 1980s, when Mikhail Gorbachev came to power, the country
faced a social, political, economic, and religious “thaw period.” As it became socially and politically liberalized, many churches took back their chapels that had been confiscated by the country, and members of local churches rebuilt them. Finally, the underground church slowly came to the surface, and the Russian Orthodox Church began to make its voice heard again. Even after democracy was introduced in Russia, the law on denominations was gradually strengthened in 1997, and all Catholic denominations except the Orthodox Church were outlawed.

Vladimir Putin became president (2000 to 2008, 2012 to present) and implemented centralized authoritarian rule little by little to maintain long-term power. In 2014, he annexed Crimea from Ukraine and engaged in the Donbas civil war.

In April 2016, the Russian Parliament introduced the Yarovaya Act, an anti-terrorism law. While its stated purpose was to enhance public safety and prevent terrorism, it effectively banned free evangelism and included provisions restricting religious activities and discussions. Every sermon delivered outside a church building was considered missionary activity. To spread the Christian faith, one had to first obtain government approval through a registered religious organization. This law, also called the “New Religion Law” or “Anti-Missionary Law,” allowed for the arrest of Protestants and foreign missionaries, as well as the confiscation of property.
Since then, religious minorities have faced suppression, foreign missionaries have had their religious visas revoked, and Protestant evangelicals have suffered persecution from the Russian Orthodox Church. The Russian government has also arrested and detained Muslim leaders in occupied regions such as Donbas, a border area between Crimea and Ukraine. Since 2017, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has designated Russia as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) for its violations of religious freedom. In response, the United States and Western countries imposed economic sanctions on Russia.

As of 2022, the Orthodox Church accounted for 54% of Russia’s population, while Protestants made up only 1%, facing pressure and sanctions from both the government and the Orthodox Church.

Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, and Putin signed a decree on September 29 containing the approval of an independent country ahead of the signing ceremony of the annexation treaty for four Ukrainian states, including Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia, and Kherson.

Preaching, praying, and evangelism are all being sanctioned, but the Church is awakening.

A new law enacted on March 4, 2022 defines “any public act intended to condemn the Russian military’s actions” as a crime. According to a BBC Russian-language broadcast, Ioan Bordin of the Resurrection church in Kostroma was charged with making anti-military remarks in a sermon and distributing an online petition against the conflict. In early March, 400 leaders of the Russian Baptist Church, Pentecostal church, and seminary published an open letter titled “I appeal to my compatriots,” which went beyond requesting prayers for peace, showing that they were being threatened by posting for a while on the website of a small Christian publishing company and then voluntarily deleting it.

On June 9, 2022, 15 evangelists were temporarily detained and interrogated while sharing the gospel at an evangelism meeting in Bogoroditsk, 250 km south of Moscow, and the leader of this group was fined. This unregistered Baptist group from the Tula, Smolensk, and Tver regions near Bogoroditsk was led by Kovalevich Yuri Sergeevich, the leader of a church in Tula. When the police arrived following a report from a Russian Orthodox priest, the evangelists were distributing government-registered gospel newspapers and evangelism booklets.

Witnesses reported that a man approached the orchestra, signaled for them to stop playing, and seized Christian materials from some individuals. Without reading them, he tore them apart, threw them on the ground, and accused the evangelists of being part of a sect. He then called the police and left.

Kovalevich was charged with organizing a public gathering of 15 or more people carrying placards. On June 11, the Bogoroditsk District Court in the Tula region questioned him regarding the charges. The judge found him guilty and imposed a fine of 25,000 rubles, citing his responsibility for seven young children as a mitigating factor. Since Kovalevich’s evangelism meeting fully complied with police guidelines, he appealed the decision in court once again.

》Prayer Points

1. Let us pray that the people of Russia will unite and raise their voices against the dictatorship and government that restricts and suppresses freedom with overwhelming power, even after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Let us ask God to bring Russia back to the gospel, so that in the face of the deep sinfulness of those who steal and kill—whether driven by old communist ideology or the greed of individual dictators—the nation may come to Him with a humble heart and receive salvation.

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.(Matthew 5:3-4,10,NIV)

2. Although the Russian Orthodox Church has 54% of the population and has a long tradition of over a thousand years, it deceives the people by justifying the war in Ukraine under government protection. Meanwhile, Protestants remain a small minority and face persecution, with preaching, evangelism, and even prayer being restricted, prosecuted, and punished.
Let us pray that the leaders and members of the Russian Orthodox Church who do not fear God and distort the truth of Scripture will repent and receive renewed grace. May the Lord awaken churches with a living faith in the gospel of the cross, that they may persist in prayer and boldly proclaim the gospel until God’s kingdom and righteousness are fully revealed.

18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”(Matthew 16:18-19,NIV)

》 Urgent prayer requests around the world need your prayer!

》Nehemiah 52Prayer, Click Here!