Christian World | Forum 18 says Russian courts fined a Baptist church, three pastors and an archbishop under the 'undesirable organisations' law, one case over a children's Bible

ACW | October 31, 2026 — Russian courts have fined a Moscow Baptist church, three pastors, an archbishop and a religious freedom researcher under a law against "undesirable" foreign organisations, Forum 18 reported on Thursday.

The fines were imposed under Article 20.33 of Russia's Code of Administrative Offences, which punishes "participation in the activities" of organisations declared undesirable, the religious freedom news service said. In three of the four cases, the charges rested on literature or content the defendants did not produce, it said.

Moscow's Butyrsky District Court fined Golgotha Baptist Church 50,000 roubles on September 7 after inspectors found a single copy of an illustrated children's book, "The Bible in action. New Testament," in the church office, according to Forum 18. The book was published by Mission Eurasia, a Christian organisation Russia's Prosecutor General declared undesirable on April 30.

The same court fined Pyotr Mitskevich, head of the Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists and senior pastor of the church, 20,000 roubles on September 10. His defence said he was travelling and had ordered the mission's materials removed, the Institute of Religion and Politics reported. He appealed on October 21, Forum 18 said.

A court in the city of Vladimir fined two more Baptist pastors 20,000 roubles each on September 29 and 30, Forum 18 said. Inspectors had found 81 copies of "How to Tell Children About the Gospel" at one of the churches.

In St Petersburg, Archbishop Grigory Mikhnov-Vaytenko was fined 5,000 roubles on September 22 because a 2022 video interview he gave to Novaya Gazeta Europe, an outlet declared undesirable in 2023, remained on his Telegram channel. "It is my interview; I did give it," he wrote, while objecting to the role of the FSB security service in the case.

Olga Sibiryova, a researcher at the SOVA Center, was fined 15,000 roubles on September 10 after prosecutors said the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance (IRFBA) had used her public reports. SOVA said in a statement that no evidence of any cooperation was presented in court and that the ruling would be appealed.

Prosecutors and courts did not answer Forum 18's questions or declined to comment, the service said.

Background: More than 20 religious or religiously affiliated organisations are on Russia's "undesirable" list, and the law bans distributing their materials or storing them for distribution, according to Forum 18.

Why it matters: A repeat offence can bring criminal charges under Criminal Code Article 284.1 and up to four years in prison, Forum 18 said; in one of these cases a church was fined over a single children's Bible.

ACW will continue to follow this story.

Sources: Forum 18 — RUSSIA: Alleged participants in activities of "undesirable organisations" fined; SOVA Center — statement on the fine against Olga Sibiryova; Institute of Religion and Politics — head of Russian Baptist Union fined

Photo: Olga Sibiryova, Forum 18 (private photo)