{"id":60554,"date":"2026-09-08T09:55:28","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T00:55:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/?p=60554"},"modified":"2026-09-08T09:58:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T00:58:08","slug":"vomk-report-415","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/2026\/09\/08\/vomk-report-415\/","title":{"rendered":"RUSSIA: FOREIGNERS EVANGELIZING IN RUSSIA FACE MANDATORY EXPULSION UNDER NEW LAW"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”60556″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” css=””][vc_custom_heading text=”Russia is making expulsion of foreigners mandatory for a wider range of religious offenses. According to persecution watchdog Voice of the Martyrs Korea, the new law, signed on August 4 and due to go into effect on November 3, could lead to mandatory expulsion of foreigners for simple acts like inviting someone to a religious service or discussing faith at a bus stop. ” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:1.2em|text_align:left|color:%23111111″ google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” css=”” el_class=”headline”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]\u201cPreviously, a foreign citizen found guilty of these kinds of religious offenses faced only a minor administrative fine,\u201d says\u00a0<\/span>Voice of the Martyrs Representative Dr<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0Hyun Sook Foley<\/span>. \u201cBut beginning in November, these amendments to Federal Law No. 294-FZ\u00a0<\/span>maintain<\/span>\u00a0the fines but add a mandatory requirement for administrative expulsion from the Russian Federation. The mandatory requirement means that court<\/span>s are\u00a0<\/span>legally prohibited from waiving the expulsion based on factors\u00a0<\/span>like the\u00a0<\/span>individual\u2019s length of residence or family status in Russia.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]Representative<\/span>\u00a0Foley says that\u00a0<\/span>means even a long-time foreign resident of Russia could face mandatory expulsion for engaging in what the law defines as \u201cillegal missionary activities<\/span>\u201d,<\/span>\u00a0even\u00a0<\/span>if the resident is not a missionary but is\u00a0<\/span>an ordinary person\u00a0<\/span>having a public conversation based on faith or inviting a neighbor to church.<\/span>\u00a0\u201cEven being married to a Russian citizen doesn\u2019t shield a foreigner from expulsion under these new amendments,\u201d\u00a0<\/span>she<\/span>\u00a0says.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”60558″ img_size=”600*800″ alignment=”center” css=””][vc_custom_heading text=”If foreigners participate in evangelism activities, as shown in the above file photo taken in southern Russia, they could be expelled. (source: VERNOST: Information and Analytical Portal) ” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230a0101|line_height:1.45em” css=””][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]Under the new amendments, police officers can detain a foreigner suspected of a religious offense, investigate the violation, and\u00a0<\/span>submit<\/span>\u00a0the case to a court. Only a judge has the authority to formally hand down the verdict<\/span>, which will now\u00a0<\/span>include both the mandatory fine and the order for administrative expulsion. For the 45 offenses listed in the law, including the religious offenses, the judge is legally prohibited from waiving the expulsion order.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]Representative Foley says her organization\u00a0<\/span>believes that foreigners from evangelical groups like\u00a0<\/span>Baptists and Pentecostals are most likely to face difficulty under the new amendments because of the tendency of such groups to engage in outdoor evangelism and casual conversations about faith.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”60559″ img_size=”600*800″ alignment=”center” css=””][vc_custom_heading text=”If foreigners participate in evangelism activities, as shown in the above file photo taken in southern Russia, they could be expelled. (source: VERNOST: Information and Analytical Portal)” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230a0101|line_height:1.45em” css=””][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]She<\/span>\u00a0notes that there is one \u201cloophole\u201d in the new law.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]\u201cForeign citizens who sign a contract and serve in the Russian Armed Forces cannot be deported,\u201d\u00a0<\/span>she<\/span>\u00a0says.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][\/vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]Since its 2017 report, t<\/span>he United States Commission on International Religious Freedom<\/span>\u00a0(USCIRF) has annually called\u00a0<\/span>on the US State Department to designate\u00a0<\/span>Russia as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC)<\/span>\u00a0for what it calls<\/span>\u00a0\u201csystematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0The Commission\u2019s 2026 report calls particular attention to Russia\u2019s religion laws which penalize \u201cmissionary activities\u201d that lack government approval.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_column][\/vc_column]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”60556″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” css=””][vc_custom_heading text=”Russia is making expulsion of foreigners mandatory for a wider range of religious offenses. According to persecution watchdog Voice of the Martyrs Korea, the new …","protected":false},"author":1959,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[857,235,140],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-russian-special","category-special-column","category-vomk-report"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.5","language":"en","enabled_languages":["ko","en","zh","ru"],"languages":{"ko":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"zh":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"ru":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1959"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60554"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60554\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60563,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60554\/revisions\/60563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}