In Maykop, the capital of the Republic of Adygeya in Russia, a magistrate’s court fined three members of an Evangelical Christian Baptist congregation.

The case was reported by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

According to the report, Vitaliy Demchenko, Andrey Moskalets and Dmitriy Tayshin were found guilty of violating the rules governing missionary activity, the SOVA Research Center said. Each was fined 10,000 rubles.

The case arose from an inspection during a worship service on July 5. Law enforcement officers entered the private home where the congregation meets, took written statements from those present and drew up administrative offence reports.

The International Union of Churches of Evangelical Christians-Baptists said the court had not explained the criteria used to classify the believers’ gathering as public missionary activity and had cited no supporting facts. According to the congregation, the penalties were imposed for holding worship services in a private home.

We previously reported that since February 2022, religious communities in Russia have faced growing pressure. Priests are defrocked for praying for peace, church and secular courts reinforce one another, and the state and church structures jointly punish those who refuse to justify the war. This is detailed in an analytical report by Russian and American journalist Sergey Chapnin, “Religious Communities Under Pressure: Documenting Religious Persecution in Russia 2022–2026”.

As previously reported, in June 2026 a court ordered the expulsion from Russia of a US pastor for discussing religion and offering to pray for Trump. After the meeting, the pastor was reported to the police.

Former head of Russia’s Baptist community Yuriy Sipko was added to the list of terrorists and extremists maintained by Rosfinmonitoring. The decision was published on the agency’s website.

We previously reported that Russian Orthodox Church priests who refuse to read a prayer for the victory of Russian troops face church trials for violating Apostolic Canon 25. The canon concerns fornicators, thieves and perjurers. This was stated by Konstantin Kokora, a Russian Orthodox Church priest, theologian and educator from Moscow who was forced to leave the country because of his views.

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

As LF reported, Russia’s Ministry of Justice required all religious organisations receiving foreign funding to publish reports. Failure to comply with the reporting requirements will result in penalties. Their leaders will face administrative liability under the law. The ministry will strictly monitor compliance with the new regulation.

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 put before the plenary in June. The document describes how authoritarian states operating within the European Union, in this case Russia, and affiliated structures persecute, intimidate and monitor dissidents, opposition figures, journalists, human rights defenders, activists and diaspora communities beyond their national borders.

We previously reported that US Helsinki Commission Chairman and Republican Congressman Joe Wilson, together with several other lawmakers, introduced the “Countering Russia’s War Against Faith Act”.