In Russia, since Jehovah’s Witnesses were banned in 2017, law enforcement agencies have conducted more than 2,400 searches of the homes of followers of the religion. It was under Putin that members of this denomination were declared “extremists” and driven underground.

This is reported in an article by religious studies scholar Lera Furman published by Novaya Gazeta – Europe.

The author recounts cases of persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses (JWs) in Russia, including searches, arrests, torture, and imprisonment, and analyzes the reasons for the regime’s hostility toward the religious organization.

As is known, in addition to Russia, Jehovah’s Witnesses are completely banned in North Korea, China, Iran, Eritrea, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and a number of Islamic countries in the Middle East and North Africa. In 1935, the leadership of the Third Reich banned Jehovah’s Witnesses, sending around 10,000 believers to concentration camps, where a distinctive purple triangle was sewn onto their uniforms. In the USSR, Jehovah’s Witnesses were classified as an “anti-Soviet fanatical sect”. Community leaders were imprisoned, while rank-and-file members were deported to Siberia. Only in 1991 were they rehabilitated and even began receiving compensation as victims of political repression.

According to Lera Furman, under Putin the authorities once again focused on the “anti-state” nature of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Following a series of local restrictive measures, on April 20, 2017, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation declared all 396 Russian Jehovah’s Witness organizations “extremist” and banned them for preaching superiority over other religions, distributing previously banned literature, including the Bible in the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ translation, refusing blood transfusions, and refusing military service.

Representatives of the World Headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses told Novaya Gazeta – Europe that nearly 2,400 searches of their fellow believers’ homes have been conducted in Russia to date.

The author believes that Jehovah’s Witnesses irritate totalitarian regimes because they refuse to worship state symbols, swear oaths, participate in elections or the work of governing bodies, celebrate state holidays, and, finally, accept blood transfusions.

In most cases, excessive force is not used against believers, although the World Headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses has documented 80 cases of violence and torture during searches, most often when authorities demanded that believers provide lists of fellow members or unlock their devices. The official Jehovah’s Witnesses website in Russia cites several cases in which searches of believers’ homes ended with their hospitalization.

Today, all forms of open preaching are inaccessible to Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia. As believers told Novaya Gazeta – Europe, their daily lives in Russia are reduced to communicating about biblical topics by video link. However, even this format is classified by the repressive authorities as the “continuation of the activities of an extremist organization”.

The situation is complicated by the fact that virtually no human rights defenders remain in Russia to assist Jehovah’s Witnesses. The last major organization to provide such assistance was Memorial, while privately hired lawyers are afraid to take on such cases.

As LF reported, in Russia a military court sentenced former priest Vasiliy Ptashinskiy from Moscow Region to three years and nine months in a general-regime penal colony. He was found guilty of “justifying terrorism and making calls against state security”.

The following day, 58-year-old philosopher and theologian Igor Zaytsev was detained in St. Petersburg.

Earlier, we reported that after February 2022, pressure on religious communities intensified in Russia. Priests have been stripped of their clerical status for praying for peace, church and secular courts have complemented one another, and the state and church structures have jointly punished those who refuse to justify the war.

As reported, in June 2026, a court decided to expel a US pastor from Russia for discussing religion and suggesting that people pray for Trump. After the meeting, someone reported the pastor to the police.

Former head of Russia’s Baptists Yuriy Sipko was placed on the list of terrorists and extremists, updated by Rosfinmonitoring. The decision was published on the agency’s website.

Earlier, we reported that priests of the Russian Orthodox Church who refuse to recite a prayer for the victory of Russian troops are being tried for violating the 25th Apostolic Canon. This church rule concerns fornicators, thieves, and perjurers. This was reported by Konstantin Kokora, a priest of the Russian Orthodox Church, theologian, and teacher from Moscow who was forced to leave the country because of his views.

As LF reported, Archbishop Pavel Petstsi, who had served as chairman of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Russia for 15 years, resigned. Sources in Russian Catholic circles indicate that the authorities had insisted on a change in the leadership of Russia’s Catholics.

As LF reported, Russia’s Ministry of Justice ordered all religious organizations receiving foreign funding to publish reports. Violations of the rules for providing information will result in punishment. Their leaders will be subject to administrative liability under the law. The Ministry of Justice will strictly monitor compliance with the new regulations.

As LF reported, the European Union is preparing a resolution on repression in Russia. The draft European Parliament resolution on transnational repression passed a committee vote and will be brought before the plenary in June. The document describes how authoritarian states, referring to Russia according to LF, and affiliated structures pursue, intimidate, and monitor dissidents, opposition figures, journalists, human rights defenders, activists, and diaspora communities outside their countries.

Earlier, we reported that US Helsinki Commission Chairman and Republican Congressman Joe Wilson, along with several other lawmakers, introduced the bill “Countering Russia’s War on Faith”.

As LF reported, the Russian Orthodox Church is coordinating with the FSB in the persecution of anti-war clergy. Evidence of this was published by religious studies scholar and former editor of the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate Sergey Chapnin in his book Religious Communities Under Pressure: Documenting Religious Persecution in Russia, 2022–2026.