ussian law enforcement authorities in Noginsk, Moscow Region, detained Pavel Bochkov, a cleric of the Norilsk Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church.

This was reported by Christians Against the War.

He is accused of “disseminating defamatory materials concerning a number of senior clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church”.

The priest has been placed under arrest.

As LF reported, in Russia, a military court sentenced former priest Vasiliy Ptashinskiy from the Moscow Region to 3 years and 9 months in a general-regime penal colony. He was found guilty of “justifying terrorism and making calls against state security”.

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

Earlier, we reported, that since February 2022, pressure has been exerted on religious communities in Russia. Priests have been stripped of their clerical status for praying for peace, church and secular courts complement each other, and the state and church structures jointly punish those who refuse to justify the war.

As reported, in June 2026, a court decided to deport a pastor from the United States 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, as updated by Rosfinmonitoring. The decision was published on the agency’s website.

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

As LF reported, Archbishop Pavel Pezzi, who had served as president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Russia for 15 years, resigned. Catholic circles in Russia indicate that the authorities insisted on replacing the head of the country’s Catholics.

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

As LF reported, the EU is preparing a resolution on repression in Russia. A draft European Parliament resolution on transnational repression passed a committee vote and will be brought before the plenary in June. The document describes how, within the territory of the European Union, authoritarian states, in this case Russia, and structures linked to them persecute, intimidate, and monitor dissidents, opposition figures, journalists, human rights defenders, activists, and diaspora communities outside their countries.

Earlier, we reported, that Joe Wilson, a Republican congressman and chairman of the US Helsinki Commission, together with several other lawmakers, introduced a bill entitled “Countering Russia’s War Against Faith”.

As LF reported, the Russian Orthodox Church coordinates with the FSB in persecuting anti-war clergy. Evidence of this was published by religious 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 in 2022–2026.