The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has released a new report condemning Russia 2.2.25

[dljbsp]

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has released a new report condemning Russia for its systematic and egregious violations of religious liberty, both within its borders and in Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine. The report highlights how Russian authorities aggressively target “non-traditional” religious groups—including Jehovah’s Witnesses, Scientologists, Muslims (especially Crimean Tatars), Falun Gong practitioners, and Ukrainian Orthodox Church clergy—labeling them “extremists” and subjecting them to fines, imprisonment, raids, and even torture. Several Jehovah’s Witnesses, such as Oleg Sirotkin, Nikolai Polevodov, Vitaliy Zhuk, and Stanislav Kim, have received harsh prison sentences of six to eight years or more. In occupied Ukraine, Orthodox clergy have been abducted and tortured. USCIRF emphasizes that Russia’s crackdown has intensified since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, especially through vague extremism and blasphemy laws, and strongly recommends that the U.S. State Department re-designate Russia as a “Country of Particular Concern.”

https://bitterwinter.org/uscirf-releases-new-report-on-violations-of-religious-liberty-in-russia/

Edited yesterday at 12:47 PM by dljbsp

[Dustparticle]

34 minutes ago, dljbsp said:

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has released a new report condemning Russia for its systematic and egregious violations of religious liberty, both within its borders and in Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine. The report highlights how Russian authorities aggressively target “non-traditional” religious groups—including Jehovah’s Witnesses, Scientologists, Muslims (especially Crimean Tatars), Falun Gong practitioners, and Ukrainian Orthodox Church clergy—labeling them “extremists” and subjecting them to fines, imprisonment, raids, and even torture. Several Jehovah’s Witnesses, such as Oleg Sirotkin, Nikolai Polevodov, Vitaliy Zhuk, and Stanislav Kim, have received harsh prison sentences of six to eight years or more. In occupied Ukraine, Orthodox clergy have been abducted and tortured. USCIRF emphasizes that Russia’s crackdown has intensified since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, especially through vague extremism and blasphemy laws, and strongly recommends that the U.S. State Department re-designate Russia as a “Country of Particular Concern.”

https://bitterwinter.org/uscirf-releases-new-report-on-violations-of-religious-liberty-in-russia/

 

Here is a report

 

 https://bitterwinter.org/uscirf-releases-new-report-on-violations-of-religious-liberty-in-russia/?_gl=1*1h2nwwv*_up*MQ..*_gs*MQ..&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIyLXb1KCejgMV1yytBh23jw5FEAAYASAAEgIdbPD_BwE&gbraid=0AAAAAC6C3Pcch5VgmGh_sDEMBLY7OofWi

[Parale]

1 hour ago, dljbsp said:

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has released a new report condemning Russia for its systematic and egregious violations of religious liberty, both within its borders and in Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine.

 

1 hour ago, Dustparticle said:

Here is a report

 

https://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/2025-06/2025 Russia Country Update FINAL.pdf

[Parale]

United States Commission on International Religious Freedom - Country Update: Russia July 2025 (with links to relevant pages on the jw-russia.org website)

 

"As of May 2025, roughly 180 Jehovah’s Witnesses remain in Russian custody, either in pretrial detention, imprisoned, under house arrest, or subjected to forced labor."

• https://www.jw.org/en/news/region/russia/jehovahs-witnesses-in-prison/

 

"In February 2025, the Yoshkar-Ola City Court in the Republic of Mari El fined nine Jehovah’s Witnesses 600,000 rubles ($7,380) each and another one 500,000 rubles ($6,150) for their involvement in worship meetings."

• https://jw-russia.org/en/news/2025/02/131443.html

 

"That same month, the Cherkessk City Court of Karachay-Cherkessia sentenced Yevgeniy Semenov to six years and three months in prison for sharing his religious beliefs with others."

• https://jw-russia.org/en/cases/cherkessk5.html

 

"In March 2025, the Altai Regional Court replaced on appeal the suspended sentence of Sergey Lukin with four years and six months of forced labor for holding meetings to discuss Jehovah’s Witness religious beliefs."

• https://jw-russia.org/en/cases/biysk.html

 

"In March 2025, 67-year-old Valery Bailo died while serving a two-and-a-half-year sentence for his Jehovah’s Witness religious activities. According to his family, prison authorities failed to provide Bailo with adequate medical care despite his repeated visits to the prison hospital."

• https://jw-russia.org/en/cases/kholmskaya7.html

"In Russian-occupied Crimea, the Russian-controlled Gagarin District Court of Sevastopol in January 2025 sentenced Jehovah’s Witnesses Sergey Zhigalov and Viktor Kudinov to six years in prison each for organizing religious activities."

• https://jw-russia.org/en/cases/sevastopol5.html

 

"As of May 2025, 13 Jehovah’s Witnesses from Russian-occupied Crimea remain imprisoned, with all of them serving sentences of six years or more."

 

 

https://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/2025-06/2025 Russia Country Update FINAL.pdf