Religious freedom in Russia continues to decline, say experts

(OSV News) -- As Pope Leo XIV highlights the need for interreligious dialogue and diplomacy, religious liberty in Russia continues to decline, with the U.S. International Religious Freedom Commission citing that nation's intensified use of blasphemy laws to silence freedom of expression.

At the same time, a Russian-born scholar told OSV News that even theological disagreement within the Russian Orthodox Church is silenced.

In May, Pope Leo stressed to Vatican-accredited diplomats that interreligious dialogue can foster peace, with such exchange first requiring "full respect for religious freedom in every country, since religious experience is an essential dimension of the human person."

But a month earlier, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom issued an update on Russia's "intensified" enforcement of its laws against what the commission called "perceived offensive expression toward religion, religious texts, and religious leaders."

The commission -- which defines blasphemy as "the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence for God or sacred things" -- noted that under international human rights law, "freedom of religion or belief includes the right to express a full range of thoughts and beliefs, including those that others might find blasphemous."

The law protects the rights of individuals, not "religious feelings, figures or symbols from behavior or speech considered blasphemous," said USCIRF.

As a result, said the commission, "while certain offensive statements and actions may warrant public rebuke, prosecuting perceived offensive expression toward religion violates the right to freedom of religion or belief and the right to freedom of opinion and expression under international human rights law."

In Russia, the two laws commonly invoked to prosecute blasphemy -- one criminal, one civil -- have been used to enforce compliance with the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin, which has leveraged the nation's predominantly Russian Orthodox religious identity and what it calls "traditional values" to rally the nation against the West.

"For years, President Putin has championed his interpretation of 'traditional values' to oppose the West on human rights and justify his authoritarian practices, which include systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom," said USCIRF.

USCIRF said that the use of the blasphemy laws has accelerated with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which began in 2022 and continues attacks initiated in 2014.

Dmitry Dubrovskiy, a researcher from the Institute for International Studies at Charles University in Prague, told OSV News that Russia's blasphemy laws also work in an indirect, but no less effective, way.

"It's not so important how many people are being fined or prosecuted -- what is much more important is how many people are prevented from doing something because they're afraid of being prosecuted," explained Dubrovskiy, a former associate professor at Moscow's Higher School of Economics until March 2022, when he was declared a "foreign agent" in Russia and left the country.

Dubrovskiy said the prosecution of those deemed to violate Russia's blasphemy laws sends "a message" that certain groups are "second-rate humans."

At the same time, he said, "the message about the peculiar character of the Russian Orthodox Church in general" is that "it's totally untouchable" as "the highest level of authority, and not for discussion," although the church has only traditionally, rather than formally, been declared Russia's state church.

In its 2025 World Watch List, the nonprofit Open Doors International -- which aids persecuted Christians in more than 70 countries -- said that amid a climate of "dictatorial paranoia" that fuels Russia's persecution of some religious groups, "the Russian Orthodox churches experience the least problems from the government" among Christian organizations.

"The government continues to favor the Russian Orthodox Church at the expense of other Christian groups," while "Jehovah Witnesses have been banned since 2017," said the report. "After the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022 state surveillance has increased, including the monitoring of non-ROC (Russian Orthodox Church) Christians."

Open Doors also said in its report that "state agents at various levels carry out surveillance and impose restrictions," with Russia's legislation "being adapted and bringing in new restrictions constantly. All over Russia, local communities oppose openly evangelistic activities carried out by Protestant Christians."

In October, the Russian government also put forth a draft law banning religious services in residential buildings.

Dubrovskiy pointed to his research on the "expert opinions" used in classifying religious groups in Russia as "extremist" -- a practice that dates from Soviet times. He has found that such experts are increasingly selected not for their knowledge of religion, but of extremism, with little understanding of faith communities' practices and an inclination to label groups harshly.

Priests of the Russian Orthodox Church -- which has openly supported that nation's war on Ukraine, with Patriarch Kirill declaring soldiers killed in action as absolved from sin -- have been expelled and imprisoned for expressing their dissent over the invasion, even on religious grounds.

Among those who have been incarcerated is Hieromonk Ioann Kurmoyarov, whose YouTube videos criticizing the Russian government's aggression in Ukraine resulted in a three-year prison sentence, imposed in 2023, for sharing "fake news" about the Russian military.

Speaking out against the Russian Orthodox Church itself is a danger, said Dubrovskiy.

"All the Russian (Orthodox) priests who have ever criticized the church are being excommunicated or expelled," he said, adding that while theological debate by nature entails a level of disagreement, "there is no such thing as discussion" within the Russian Orthodox Church, which strives to "discipline the people to believe and to follow the instructions of the patriarch."

Religious persecution is also experienced among Russia's Muslims, who make up close to 11% of the population, according to Open Doors. Clashes between Islamic militant groups and the government in certain areas have caused many ethnic Russians, largely Christian, to flee. In the same Muslim-majority regions, Christians with Muslim backgrounds face persecution from family, friends and the local community.

OSV News is awaiting a response to its request for comment from the apostolic nuncio to Russia, Archbishop Giovanni d'Aniello, on the status of religious freedom in Russia.

In Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, officials have cracked down harshly on religious groups, destroying houses of worship and seizing church buildings while imprisoning, torturing and killing clergy.

In the partially-occupied region of Zaporizhzhia, Russian officials banned the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, the Knights of Columbus and Caritas -- the international humanitarian aid network of the universal Catholic Church.

Two UGCC priests, Father Ivan Levitsky and Father Bohdan Geleta, were abducted from their former Zaporizhzhia region parishes and released through Vatican mediation in June 2024, after 18 months of captivity and torture.

Despite the Russian government's zealous crackdown on non-Russian Orthodox faith communities, and the nation's majority-Orthodox populace, Russian society as a whole is not especially religious, said Dubrovskiy.

Instead, "a substantial amount of Russians definitely consider their Orthodoxy as a cultural identity," he said, noting that just "approximately 3-7% of the Russian population regularly visit a church."