Four Protestant churches experienced harassment in May by officials in Russia or areas now under Russian control, according to persecution ministry Voice of the Martyrs Korea. According to Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr. Hyun Sook Foley, the common theme was the insistence by authorities that the church’s houses of worship would be sealed up and prohibited from use until church leaders provided proof of government registration.  

“A new generation of Russian prosecutors and authorities are clamping down on the most basic forms of evangelical Protestant religious activity,” says Representative Foley. “Authorities are insisting that if a church is not registered with the government, it is operating illegally.”  

The four churches shut by officials in May were located in Kurganinsk in Krasnodar Krai, in southwestern Russia near Georgia; in Sochi, also in Krasnodar Krai; in Tula, 120 km south of Moscow; and in the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic in Russia-controlled Eastern Ukraine. 

According to Representative Foley, the church in Kurganinsk has experienced difficulties with authorities since September 2024. “The church there is an unregistered Baptist church, which means that not registering the church with authorities is an important part of the church’s beliefs,” says Representative Foley. “In September 2024, the Kurganinsk District Court ruled that the church’s activities had to cease until the church filed what is called a ‘notice of commencement of activities of a religious group’ with the  government’s Ministry of Justice Office of the Krasnodar Region.” 

Representative Foley says that the church appealed the ruling, first in the Kurganinsk court, then in an appeals court, and finally in a cassation court (a high-level Russian appeals court), but the appeals were denied. Then on May 16, law enforcement officers from three agencies arrived at the church’s house of worship and demanded that church members leave the building immediately.  

“The officers gave the church an inventory report and sealed the doors,” says Representative Foley. “The officers told the church members that the house of worship would remain sealed until the church could give the officers government registration documents.”  

Representative Foley says that on May 19, 2025, the church’s pastor, Alexander Alexandrovich, was warned that if he could face criminal penalties if the church continues to refuse to register. 

A similar situation unfolded in an unregistered church in Sochi, 300 km away, in May, according to Representative Foley. “A man identifying himself as a member of the National Security Service entered the church’s house of worship during the worship service with uniformed police officers and someone he identified as being from the prosecutors’ office,” says Representative Foley. “He asked who the elder was and demanded that he show ‘the documentation’, meaning the church’s government registration paperwork. A church elder noted it was a private residence, but the man insisted it was a public space, while police recorded videos of the worship area and the attendees.” 

On May 18, In Tula, a city 120 km south of Moscow, two plain clothes visitors attended the morning worship service at the church there and then returned for the evening service, recording their visits on video. “At the evening service, church members learned these were officers from the criminal investigation department,” says Representative Foley. “Then at the end of the service, a police officer and two agents entered the building. They said they had received a report that ‘suspicious individuals’ were gathering there. They asked questions like: Why are services being held without registration? Who preached from the pulpit? And they showed the video recordings from the visitors as a kind of evidence.” 

Then on May 30, authorities in Luhansk, in Russia-controlled Eastern Ukraine, entered the house of worship of a church meeting on Chernomorskaya Street. “The police officer said he was acting on orders from the FSB to seal the church building and gather information,” says Representative Foley.  

Representative Foley says that dealing with issues of registration is nothing new for churches in the region. “Since 2014, when so-called People’s Republics were declared in Donetsk and Luhansk, Protestant churches have been required to register with authorities, and to produce copies of their registration upon request,” says Representative Foley. “One church leader told us that worship services are held only where and when officials tolerate them. The leader told us, ‘[Officials] present everything Protestant as American–planted, and only the ROC MP [Russian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate] has the right to operate’.” 

Voice of the Martyrs Korea operates “Голос мучеников”, a Russian language edition of its popular Facebook page on Christian persecution. Representative Foley says the organization also maintains private channels of communication with Christians and churches in Russia and Russian-controlled areas who are experiencing persecution. 

Representative Foley says that leaders of unregistered churches across Russia and Russia-controlled areas are asking for prayer. 

Individuals interested in learning more about Voice of the Martyrs Korea’s work with persecuted Russian language believers can visit https://vomkorea.com/en/project/russia-ministry/.