Source: www.forum18.org
Date: February 10, 2025
https://www.forum18.org/archiv
By Victoria Arnold, Forum 18
The trial of an independent Christian preacher for repeatedly allegedly
"discrediting" the Russian Armed Forces and state bodies is due to begin
soon at a court in the Urals. The 53-year-old Eduard Charov, who runs a
shelter for homeless people, is currently under a ban on leaving his home
district and using the telephone and internet. He and his wife think he
will be sent to prison.
Charov first faced administrative prosecution in the spring of 2023 for
comments on social media, including the remark addressed to "church
people": "would Jesus Christ have gone to kill in Ukraine????!". His second
alleged "discreditation" offence, for which he is about appear in court,
involved reposting a quotation about patriotism which makes no mention of
the Russian military or government: "A patriot is someone who wants to make
their country better, the people richer, and the government more honest and
fair. Not someone who justifies total destitution and corruption with
imaginary greatness and spiritual bonds" (see below).
On 28 January, Sverdlovsk Region Prosecutor's Office issued its final
indictment charging Charov for "public actions aimed at discrediting the
use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation" more than once in a
year, and "public calls to commit terrorist activities, public
justification of terrorism or propaganda of terrorism, using the internet".
The latter charge is for what Charov's wife Inna called a "sarcastic
comment" on another user's post on the VKontakte social network in
September 2023 (see below).
Sverdlovsk Region Investigative Committee has refused to reply to Forum
18's questions about the case (see below).
Two other criminal cases are ongoing against individuals who have opposed
Russia's war against Ukraine from a religious perspective. The 51-year-old
Buddhist leader Ilya Vasilyev is currently on trial in Moscow on charges of
spreading "knowingly false information" about the Russian Armed Forces "on
grounds of hatred or enmity" (see below).
Vasilyev, who has been in detention since 22 June 2024, is being prosecuted
for an English-language Facebook post about Russian rocket attacks on
Ukrainian cities. He made the post – and others for which he was
previously administratively prosecuted – "solely out of religious
conviction", his lawyer told Forum 18. If convicted, Vasilyev could be
imprisoned for 5 to 10 years or be fined 3 million to 5 million Roubles. He
is next due to appear in court on 11 February 2025 (see below).
Moscow City Prosecutor's Office has not replied to Forum 18's questions
about the case (see below).
In October 2024, a Moscow Region Pentecostal pastor became the first person
to be accused of publicly calling for actions "against state security" for
speaking out against Russia's war against Ukraine from a religious
perspective (see below).
Pastor Nikolay Romanyuk, who is now 62, preached a sermon in September 2022
in which he explicitly stated that, "on the basis of Holy Scripture",
Christians should not go to fight in Ukraine. Because the sermon was
livestreamed and then uploaded to his church's YouTube channel, he is under
investigation for "Public calls to implement activities directed against
the security of the Russian Federation, or to obstruct the exercise by
government bodies and their officials of their powers to ensure the
security of the Russian Federation" "with the use of mass media, or
electronic, or information and telecommunication networks, including the
internet" (see below).
Armed men raided Pastor Romanyuk's home and those of several other church
members on 18 October 2024. While arresting Romanyuk, the armed officials
tortured him by striking him on the side of the head, causing fluid to leak
from his ear, his daughter Svetlana Zhukova stated (see below).
It is unclear which security agencies carried out the raids and which is
investigating Pastor Romanyuk's case. None of the Moscow Region branches of
the Investigative Committee and the Federal Security Service (FSB), the
Federal Investigative Committee, nor the Moscow Region National Guard
(Rosgvardiya) has replied to Forum 18's questions about the case (see
below).
On 27 January 2025, 44-year-old Christian bard and songwriter Andrey
Buyanov received what appears to be the largest total fine yet for
criticising Russia's war against Ukraine from a religious perspective.
Moscow's Nagatino District Court issued 10 separate guilty verdicts on
charges of "Public actions aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed
Forces of the Russian Federation" for different posts Buyanov made on
VKontakte between June 2023 and March 2024. The posts included anti-war
songs and poems, reposts of other users' material, and observations on
opposition politician Aleksey Navalny's funeral (see below).
In the written court decisions, seen by Forum 18, the amount of each fine
is redacted. For this offence, possible fines range from 30,000 to 50,000
Roubles, meaning that Buyanov could have been fined anything from 300,000
to 500,000 Roubles overall. A fine of 300,000 Roubles would represent about
2 months' average wage in Moscow (see below).
The posts which led to Buyanov's multiple prosecutions were found during
internet monitoring in December 2024 by the Interior Ministry's
Counter-Extremism Centre, which described them as "extremist materials".
They included poems and songs, mostly of his own composition and all
critical of Russia's war against Ukraine. For example, on 1 March 2024,
Buyanov made "a post supporting [Aleksey Navalny] with condemnation of the
actions of the Russian Armed Forces during the Special Military Operation",
one verdict stated, with two photos "showing a church near which people
have gathered for the purpose of holding a mass protest against the
activities of the Russian Federation" (see below).
Buyanov wrote: "I admire the People who were not afraid and came to the
funeral service and burial of [Navalny]. It's a symbolic video – against
the backdrop of a church, People chant what should have been heard in
churches all these 2 years: 'No to war!' But it is not heard. The voice of
God, banished from the churches.." (see below).
Moscow's Nagatino District Court has not replied to Forum 18's questions
about the case.
Charges and punishments
Soon after Russia launched its renewed invasion of Ukraine in February
2022, Vladimir Putin introduced new offences in order to prosecute those
opposing the war for any reason, including on religious grounds.
These included – but were not limited to – Administrative Code Article
20.3.3 (https://www.forum18.org/archi
associated Criminal Code Article 280.3
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
2022 to punish alleged "discreditation" of the Armed Forces. Amendments to
the law on 25 March 2022 expanded the definition of this offence to include
"discreditation" of "the execution by state bodies of the Russian
Federation of their powers for the specified purposes", ie. protecting
Russian interests and "maintaining international peace and security".
The government has used a range of tactics to pressure religious leaders
into supporting the renewed invasion of Ukraine
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
include warnings to senior and local religious leaders, and prosecuting and
fining religious believers and clergy who have publicly opposed the war.
Similar warnings and prosecutions have been used against many Russians who
express opposition to the war for any reason.
Since February 2022, courts have jailed two and fined three
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
for opposing Russia's war against Ukraine on religious grounds.
Investigators have also opened three criminal cases
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
have left Russia, and have placed them on the Federal Wanted List
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Many others who publicly or online protested against the war
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
the Administrative Code
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
"offences" can lead to prosecution under the Criminal Code
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
possibility of jail terms.
Ever-increasing internet censorship has seen websites and materials blocked
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
content; opposition to Russia's war against Ukraine from a religious
perspective; material supporting LGBT+ people in religious communities;
Ukraine-based religious websites; social media of prosecuted individuals;
and news and NGO sites which include coverage of freedom of religion or
belief violations.
Eduard Charov: Prosecutors send case to court
On 28 January, Sverdlovsk Region Prosecutor's Office issued its final
indictment in the criminal case against independent Christian preacher
Eduard Aleksandrovich Charov (born 18 July 1971).
The document, seen by Forum 18, indicates that prosecutors have charged
Charov under both Criminal Code Article 280.3
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
actions aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian
Federation" more than once in a year) and Criminal Code Article 205.3
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
calls to commit terrorist activities, public justification of terrorism or
propaganda of terrorism, using the internet"). Penalties under both these
Criminal Code article range from very large fines up to 7 years'
imprisonment, and any conviction is also followed by a range of possible
other penalties.
Under Criminal Code Article 69, if a person is found guilty of more than
one crime in the same court process, the judge will decide on separate
punishments for each, then add them together partially or in their entirety
to form an aggregate sentence.
Investigative Committee officials had summoned Charov for questioning on
several occasions in December 2024, according to Charov's wife Inna, who
administers his VKontakte page, eventually charging him "in a fabricated
case for his anti-war position" on 24 December.
Prosecutors have submitted the case to court, an individual following
Charov's case confirmed to Forum 18 on 29 January. Krasnoufimsk District
Court has not yet listed any hearings on its website.
Charov's first "offence" of "discreditation" took place in 2022, when,
according to court documents, he made multiple posts on VKontakte
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
"attributing purposefully hostile, violent, discriminatory actions of the
Armed Forces of the Russian Federation against civilians or socially
significant objects [and] attributing the commission of war crimes to
Russian military personnel on the territory of Ukraine".
According to the Christians Against War Telegram channel, in one of these
posts Charov said "You churchmen/church people! Come to your senses!
Understand! Think about it, would Jesus Christ have gone to kill in
Ukraine????!" [punctuation original]. In other posts, he apparently also
called President Vladimir Putin the Antichrist, according to independent
Russian media outlet Mediazona (https://zona.media/news/2024/
He also offered sanctuary at the shelter to any reservists fleeing call-up
to the army in the "partial mobilisation", which began in September 2022.
On 18 April 2023, Krasnoufimsk District Court fined Charov
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Administrative Code Article 20.3.3, Part 1 and 20,000 Roubles under
Administrative Code Article 20.3.1 ("Incitement of hatred or enmity"). The
fines added up to more than 4 weeks' average wages for Sverdlovsk Region.
As Charov is a pensioner with a wife on a disability pension and residents
to support in the shelter he runs, the fines were a large burden.
According to Investigative Committee documents seen by Forum 18, Charov
committed the "offence" which led to his criminal prosecution on 3
September 2023, when he reposted an image from another user's VKontakte
page (https://www.forum18.org/archi
the unattributed quotation: "A patriot is someone who wants to make their
country better, the people richer, and the government more honest and fair.
Not someone who justifies total destitution and corruption with imaginary
greatness and spiritual bonds".
This was judged by unnamed linguistic experts to contain "linguistic and
psychological signs of persuading [readers] of the negative nature of the
goals of Russian state bodies' use of their powers, that is, their
discreditation".
Forum 18 wrote to Sverdlovsk Region Prosecutor's Office on 31 January 2025,
after it had issued its final indictment, asking why reposting a quotation
is considered "discreditation" of the state bodies of the Russian
Federation, when the quotation does not mention Russia or any specific
state institution, and Charov did not add any comment. Forum 18 also asked
what punishment prosecutors would be seeking. Forum 18 had received no
response by the end of the working day in Sverdlovsk Region of 10 February.
Forum 18 put the same questions to Krasnoufimsk Interdistrict Prosecutor's
Office. Interdistrict Prosecutor Ilya Yefremov responded on 7 February,
stating that prosecutors' offices "do not provide information on
interpretation of a legal norm, [or] explanation of its application,
development of a legal position upon request". He added: "In accordance
with Article 49 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, everyone
accused of committing a crime is presumed innocent until their guilt is
proven in accordance with the procedure prescribed by federal law and
established by a court verdict that has entered into legal force." He did
not answer Forum 18's query.
In response to Forum 18's enquiries in July 2024, Sverdlovsk Region
Investigative Committee's press service refused to answer questions
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
saying that information about the investigation "is not subject to
disclosure".
In early February 2024, investigators also opened a case against Charov
under Criminal Code Article 205.2, Part 2 ("Public calls to commit
terrorist activities, public justification of terrorism or propaganda of
terrorism .. committed using mass media or electronic or information and
telecommunications networks, including the Internet"). According to his
wife Inna, this was because of a "satirical comment" made in August 2023 on
another user's VKontakte post about an act of arson at a military
recruitment and enlistment office: "Award the Order of Courage posthumously
with confiscation of property."
Russia's ever-increasing internet censorship
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
restricts the exercise of freedom of religion or belief, freedom of
expression, and other human rights.
The Investigative Committee has placed Charov under specific restrictions,
including a ban on using the phone and internet and a ban on leaving his
home district without permission.
Ilya Vasilyev: Zen Buddhist leader's trial underway
The trial of Zen Buddhist leader Ilya Vladimirovich Vasilyev (born 9
December 1973) on charges of spreading "false information" about the
Russian Armed Forces is underway in Moscow. He remains in custody at
Matrosskaya Tishina prison, a decision he says has "destructive religious
consequences".
After being delayed three times because of "improper notification of the
accused", according to Vasilyev's support group on Telegram
(https://t/me/dzenvnutrinas), his first hearing took place at Moscow's
Preobrazhensky District Court on 12 December 2024. Vasilyev has since made
three further appearances before Judge Valentina Lebedeva. He is next due
in court on 11 February 2025, according to the Moscow court system website.
Forum 18 asked Moscow City Prosecutor's Office on 3 February what
punishment prosecutors would be seeking in the criminal case against
Vasilyev. Forum 18 had received no response by the afternoon of the working
day in Moscow of 10 February.
No verdict is expected before the second half of March, Vasilyev's lawyer
Gevorg Aleksanyan told Forum 18 on 28 January.
According to the Investigative Committee charging decision of 16 October
2024, seen by Forum 18, the case against Vasilyev is based on an
English-language Facebook post
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
"Putin rejected Christmas armistice. His rockets are right now shelling
peaceful Ukrainian cities and towns. Only yesterday 16 people died in
Kherson, where my father's family lives. Or lived? Millions of Ukrainians
are now without electricity and water supply."
Investigators opened the case against Vasilyev on 20 June 2024 under
Criminal Code 207.3 (https://www.forum18.org/archi
("Public dissemination of knowingly false information about the use of the
Armed Forces of the Russian Federation"), Part 2, Paragraph e ("for reasons
of political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred or enmity,
or for reasons of hatred or enmity against any social group").
Vasilyev made the Facebook post about attacks on Ukrainian cities, and
others on VKontakte which led to an earlier administrative conviction,
"solely out of religious conviction", he told Forum 18 through his lawyer
Aleksanyan on 20 November 2024
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
"not a politician and is engaged only in religion".
At the first full hearing in his trial on 12 December 2024, Vasilyev
appeared in the defendant's glass box holding up a copy of the Russian
Constitution and a piece of paper with the numbers 28 and 29, SOTAVision
noted the same day (https://t.me/sotavisionmedia/
reference to Articles 28 and 29 of the Constitution, which respectively
guarantee freedom of conscience and religion and freedom of thought and
speech.
"Today's trial is not just an examination of a specific charge against Ilya
Vasilyev," lawyer Gevorg Aleksanyan told the court. "We have gathered to
consider a case that concerns much deeper issues: freedom of thought,
freedom of speech, and ultimately, the fundamental rights of every citizen
of the Russian Federation." Criminal Code Article 207.3
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
"actually aimed at people who peacefully express their beliefs against
violence and war".
In his own statement in court, Vasilyev agreed that he had made the
Facebook post but refused to admit guilt as he does not think that it broke
the law. He went on to explain that, having taken the Bodhisattva vow, he
was part of the Sangha, "a single worldwide and indivisible community of
followers of the Buddha".
Vasilyev added: "Persecution of a Sangha member, even when he has broken
the law, and in this case the accusation is far-fetched, has consequences
for the entire country and state in which the disciple of Buddha is
persecuted, and on the contrary, listening to the words of monks and
Bodhisattvas, protecting them from injustice and persecution, brings
success and prosperity to all."
Vasilyev told the Judge: "This is an historic process, and more than the
fate of this man is now in your hands. Your decision will have consequences
that go far beyond the framework of national jurisprudence, including
religious consequences."
Ilya Vasilyev: After more than 7 months' detention, judge rejects release
Ilya Vasilyev has been in detention since 22 June 2024, initially in
Moscow's Kapotnya prison, then in Matrosskaya Tishina. On 19 November 2024,
Judge Valentina Lebedeva of Moscow's Preobrazhensky District Court extended
his period of detention by six months to 24 April 2025. He appealed
unsuccessfully against this decision on 17 December 2024.
Forum 18 wrote to Preobrazhensky District Court and Moscow City Court on 31
January to ask why judges had decided that Vasilyev should continue to be
kept in custody. Forum 18 put the same question to Moscow City Prosecutor's
Office on 3 February. Forum 18 had received no responses by the afternoon
of the working day in Moscow of 10 February.
While in detention, Vasilyev "meditates in his cell on Wednesdays, many
Buddhists write him letters of support. He also reads religious literature
whenever possible," his lawyer Gevorg Aleksanyan told Forum 18.
At his 17 December 2024 appeal against his detention, Vasilyev noted that
he had been forced to celebrate a major Buddhist holiday (Bodhi Day, the
day of the Buddha's enlightenment) on 8 December in the detention centre,
rather than at home, where he has an altar.
"The [lower court] resolution says 'There are not enough guarantees of
proper behaviour .. But what about the presumption of innocence?", the
independent SOTAVision news outlet reported Vasilyev as saying
(https://t.me/sotavisionmedia/
are overcrowded, people sleep here on folding beds, they sleep in turns.
Why should I take up space here when there isn't enough?" His detention has
"destructive religious consequences", Vasilyev added.
Vasilyev's address in pre-trial detention is:
107076 g. Moskva
ul. Matrosskaya Tishina 18
FKU Sledstvenniy izolyator No. 1 UFSIN Rossii po g. Moskve
Pastor Nikolay Romanyuk: Detention extended
Pentecostal pastor Nikolay Nikolayevich Romanyuk (born 15 August 1962) is
still under investigation under Criminal Code Article 280.4
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
implement activities directed against the security of the Russian
Federation, or to obstruct the exercise by government bodies and their
officials of their powers to ensure the security of the Russian
Federation"), Part 2, Paragraph c "with the use of mass media, or
electronic, or information and telecommunication networks, including the
internet"). It is unknown whether he has been formally charged or when his
case is likely to reach court, and he remains in detention despite ill
health.
Pastor Romanyuk is facing prosecution because he gave a sermon at the Holy
Trinity Pentecostal Church in Balashikha on 25 September 2022, the first
Sunday after President Vladimir Putin announced the "partial mobilisation"
of Russian army reservists. Romanyuk called on fellow Christians not to
take part in the war against Ukraine
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
livestreamed on the church's YouTube channel and the recording subsequently
made available on YouTube and VKontakte.
Investigators carried out armed raids on several other church members'
homes on the same day as Pastor Romanyuk's, as well as at the church itself
and on church property in Volokolamsk.
Forum 18 has twice sent enquiries to the Federal Investigative Committee,
the Moscow Region Investigative Committee, and the Moscow Region branch of
the FSB security service, asking in what way Pastor Romanyuk's sermon
threatened state security, why he had been placed in detention, whether any
criminal or administrative cases had been opened against any other church
members, and why officials deemed it necessary to carry out armed raids on
their homes. Forum 18 had received no response by the afternoon of the
working day in Moscow of 10 February.
The Memorial Human Rights Centre named Pastor Romanyuk a political prisoner
on 31 October 2024
(https://memopzk.org/figurant/
Investigators had Pastor Romanyuk placed in detention for an initial period
of two months at a court hearing on 20 October 2024. On 11 December 2024,
Balashikha City Court extended this to 16 February 2025. Moscow Regional
Court upheld the decision on 16 January 2025.
"Of course, we filed an appeal," Pastor Romanyuk's daughter Svetlana
Zhukova, the church's choir director, wrote on her Telegram channel on 15
December 2024 (https://t.me/zhu4ka_sveta), referring to the initial
detention order. "Because it is obvious (for us) that a pensioner, a father
of many children, a pastor of a church, a person who does not have good
health, and simply a citizen of the Russian Federation, who has never
committed any offence in his entire life – could definitely be left under
a written undertaking not to leave, or at least house arrest, since they
give such an opportunity to people who commit real crimes."
Zhukova and her husband, Romanyuk's fellow pastor Roman Zhukov describe how
Romanyuk became ill (https://t.me/zametki_o_zhizni
centre and suffered difficulty lifting his left arm, nausea, and general
weakness. They say the detention centre staff helped him and had him taken
to hospital, where he spent a few days in intensive care, having had a
mini-stroke. But investigators "still dragged him to court, because he is a
terrible state criminal", Zhukov noted on 13 December 2024.
Pastor Romanyuk wrote to his family from the detention centre later in
December 2024 saying that he was recovering. He is "physically weak (he has
lost almost 30kg), but so resilient, with a very clear position, with a
strong faith that even strengthens us", his daughter Svetlana Zhukova wrote
on 16 January 2025.
Despite Pastor Romanyuk's health problems and his lawyer's insistence that
he would not abscond, both the lower and regional courts ruled that he
should remain in custody.
Forum 18 wrote to Balashikha City Court and Moscow Regional Court on 31
January 2025, asking why it was necessary to keep Pastor Romanyuk in
detention and in what way he could be considered dangerous. Moscow Regional
Court responded on 3 February, confirming only that it had upheld the lower
court decision, and not answering Forum 18's questions.
Pastor Romanyuk's address in pre-trial detention is:
142412, g. Noginsk
ul. 1-ya Revsobraniy 17
FKU Sledstvenniy izolyator No. 11 UFSIN Rossii po Moskovskoy oblasti
Pastor Romanyuk tortured during armed raids
When investigators (it is unclear from which state agency) raided Pastor
Nikolay Romanyuk's home and arrested him on 18 October 2024, armed
officials struck him on the side of the head, causing fluid to leak from
his ear, Romanyuk's family alleges.
Russia is a party to the United Nations Convention against Torture and
Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
(https://www.ohchr.org/en/inst
This defines torture as "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether
physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such
purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a
confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or
is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a
third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when
such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the
consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an
official capacity".
Under the Convention, Russia is obliged both to arrest any person suspected
on good grounds of having committed, instigated or acquiesced to torture
"or take other legal measures to ensure his [sic] presence", and also to
try them under criminal law which makes "these offences punishable by
appropriate penalties which take into account their grave nature".
An explanatory note added in July 2022 to Russian Criminal Code Article 286
("Exceeding official authority") repeats the first part of this definition
of torture almost verbatim. It does not include the section "when such pain
or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent
or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official
capacity".
As the UN Committee against Torture (CAT) noted in its Concluding
Observations on Russia in August 2018 (CAT/C/RUS/CO/6
(https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/
repeating its 2012 Concluding Observations recommendation: "The Committee
once again urges the State party to criminalize torture as an independent
crime.
The State party should also ensure that its definition of torture fully
conforms to article 1 of the Convention, that the penalties for torture in
its laws reflect the grave nature of the crime, as set out in the
Committee's general comment No. 2 (https://www.undocs.org/en/CAT
(2007) on the implementation of article 2, and that perpetrators are not
charged solely with other crimes which carry lower maximum penalties and
are subject to statutes of limitations."
Multiple torture cases, impunity for torturers
Torture by Russia's "security" apparatus is common, with a long standing
pattern of impunity for torturers
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
in its 2018 Concluding Observations (CAT/C/RUS/CO/6
(https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/
that "it is concerned that police and prison doctors reportedly often
failed or refused to conduct a proper and confidential examination of
injuries sustained from torture or ill-treatment and that a prisoner's
request to receive an independent medical examination was often rejected by
the prison administration".
Torture cases with impunity of torturers include those responsible for
torturing Jehovah's Witnesses in multiple cases, and those responsible for
torturing a Muslim (https://www.forum18.org/archi
who met other Muslims to study the works of theologian Said Nursi. In one
such case in Surgut the suspect torturers of Jehovah's Witnesses were given
"best local department head" and "best investigator" awards
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
work before the torture took place.
In another case, in April 2024 prisoner of conscience Rinat Kiramov was
tortured by fellow medical facility prisoners
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
he refused to give names of fellow Jehovah's Witnesses in his home town.
They punched, kicked, waterboarded, threatened with rape, and shocked him
with a stun gun. It is unclear how the prisoners had access to a stun gun.
Officials have repeatedly replied to Forum 18's questions about torture by
either not answering, or asserting that no torture took place
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
not been opened against the suspect torturers.
Forum 18 sent enquiries to the Federal Investigative Committee, the Moscow
Region Investigative Committee, and the Moscow Region branch of the FSB
security service, as well as to the Moscow Region branch of the National
Guard (Rosgvardiya, which typically provides armed support to investigators
in such situations), asking why officers had tortured Romanyuk and whether
the personnel who had done so had been placed under investigation. Forum 18
had received no response by the afternoon of the working day in Moscow of
10 February.
Armed raids on Romanyuk's family and church members' homes
No one else yet appears to be facing criminal or administrative prosecution
over Pastor Romanyuk's September 2022 sermon. Nevertheless, investigators
carried out armed raids on the homes of several members of his family and
church on the day of his arrest on 18 October 2024.
Romanyuk's daughter Svetlana Zhukova describes in detail on her Telegram
channel (https://t.me/zhu4ka_sveta) how armed men arrived shortly after
6am, their knocks "shaking our entire wooden house". The armed men did not
explain who they were or what they wanted, and searched the house,
including the children's rooms.
"Going down the stairs in fear, I saw my husband [Roman Zhukov] in the
hallway with horror. He was lying on his stomach, his legs in the house,
his torso over the threshold – on the street. Around him was some kind of
crowd of people in full military uniform, shields, helmets," Zhukova wrote
on 13 December 2024. "Machine guns were aimed at my husband, I saw a laser
sight on his back. He holds his hands behind his head, lying on the floor."
The armed men then demanded to see her 17-year-old son Kirill, whom they
forced to stand barefoot on the veranda with his face to the wall. "Weapons
were also aimed at him," Zhukova noted.
"I want to record the moment: we didn't know who these bandits were.
Thieves? Terrorists? Murderers? Who has come? Armed men broke into our
house, there were 10-12 of them. No one identified himself.
"I have told this story on many occasions during this time, but now, as I
write all this, I am simply shaking. My stomach convulses and everything
just freezes, shrinking inside into a huge lump that paralyses my body,
involuntarily tensing all my muscles.."
The searchers confiscated documents, a laptop, and phones. "We immediately
began to encounter huge inconveniences [because of this]," Zhukova wrote on
20 December 2025. She noted that they could no longer log into public
services portals. "Our life – study, work – is simply impossible now
without technology. In the end, one wonderful sister from the church
offered me her old device, which really, really helped me out for some
time.. And Kirill just bought himself a phone with the money he saved up..
In general, we have begun to live in some slightly different reality."
Moscow: Record administrative fines
On 27 January 2025, a Moscow court handed Andrey Alekseyevich Buyanov (born
21 June 1980) what appears to be the largest total fine yet for criticising
Russia's war against Ukraine from a religious perspective.
Moscow's Nagatino District Court issued 10 separate guilty verdicts under
Administrative Code Article 20.3.3
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
actions aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian
Federation") for different posts Buyanov made on VKontakte between June
2023 and March 2024. The posts included anti-war songs and poems, reposts
of other users' material, and observations on Aleksey Navalny's funeral.
In the written court decisions, seen by Forum 18, the amount of each fine
is redacted. For this offence, possible fines range from 30,000 to 50,000
Roubles, meaning that Buyanov could have been fined anything from 300,000
to 500,000 Roubles overall. A fine of 300,000 Roubles would represent about
2 months' average wage in Moscow.
Buyanov, a Christian bard and songwriter, was present in court for all 10
consecutive five-minute hearings before Judge Gayane Akopyan, and
"recognised his guilt", according to the verdicts.
The posts which led to Buyanov's multiple prosecutions were found during
internet monitoring (https://www.forum18.org/archi
in December 2024 by the Interior Ministry's Counter-Extremism Centre, which
described them as "extremist materials". They include poems and songs,
mostly of his own composition and all critical of Russia's war against
Ukraine, as well as comments about Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilians,
the destruction of the Kakhovka dam, and the late opposition politician
Aleksey Navalny (whose name is redacted in the written decisions).
On 1 March 2024, Buyanov made "a post supporting [Aleksey Navalny] with
condemnation of the actions of the Russian Armed Forces during the Special
Military Operation", one verdict stated, with two photos "showing a church
near which people have gathered for the purpose of holding a mass protest
against the activities of the Russian Federation".
Buyanov wrote: "I admire the People who were not afraid and came to the
funeral service and burial of [Navalny]. It's a symbolic video – against
the backdrop of a church, People chant what should have been heard in
churches all these 2 years: 'No to war!' But it is not heard. The voice of
God, banished from the churches.."
On 17 February 2024, the day after Navalny's death, Buyanov wrote "The
Kingdom of Heaven to the murdered sufferer Aleksey.. This state has been
killing people every day for two years now. Every day. And how much longer
will this continue? The Church is not only silent, but also approves (not
all, but the loud-mouthed elite)."
On 3 March 2024, Buyanov posted a photograph of the aftermath of a fatal
Russian drone strike in Odesa: "This wonderful family of Evangelical
Christians was destroyed along with the entrance of a residential building
in Odessa [sic], which yesterday .. was hit by a Russian UAV-pilot-shahed.
32-year-old [redacted name] together with 4-month-old Timofey were found
under the rubble - the young mother was pressing her son to her chest, so
together they passed into Eternity. The service dog Tara, who found the
bodies of the dead in the ruins, lay down and cried.. [Redacted name]'s
husband and daughter Lizi were in another room during the attack and
miraculously managed to survive."
On 19 August 2023, Buyanov quoted another VKontakte user's post about the
Russian missile strike on the Ukrainian city of Chernihiv which had taken
place that day, on which Orthodox Christians marked the festival of
Transfiguration: "Transfiguration. People are returning from a festive
service in churches - dressed up, with children, with baskets of blessed
apples.. And – an explosion! This is how 'Orthodox' Russians
'congratulated' glorious Chernigov [sic] on the holiday. Are there still
those who do not understand something?! Tell me about 'brothers', about
'one people', go ahead, try, damned Satanists.. As a result of this Russian
missile strike on Chernigov, 7 people were killed and 129 people were
injured, 15 of whom were children. Thirty minutes ago, a six-year-old boy
died in hospital from his injuries'."
Forum 18 wrote to Moscow's Nagatino District Court on 6 February to ask why
such posts were considered to "discredit" the Russian armed forces, and
what fines Buyanov has received. Forum 18 had received no response by the
afternoon of the working day in Moscow of 10 February. (END)
More reports on freedom of thought, conscience and belief in Russia
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
For background information see Forum 18's Russia religious freedom survey
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Forum 18's compilation of Organisation for Security and Co-operation in
Europe (OSCE) freedom of religion or belief commitments
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
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