FORUM RGOW

Unser Jahresbericht 2025 ist da! shorturl.at/ezsbW

"Christians Against War" Recognized as Foreign Agents in Russia On March 27, the Russian Ministry of Justice updated its registry of "foreign agents." Among others, our project "Christians Against War" was added to the list. Christians Against War is an anti-war Christian initiative founded by activists of Belarusian "Christian Vision" after the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Our website was blocked in Russia on September 9, 2023, at the request of an unknown authority. On January 23, 2024, our Telegram channel was added to the list of "extremist materials" in Belarus. A criminal case has been opened against one of the initiative's participants in Belarus for giving an interview to the Belsat TV channel. And "Christian Vision" itself was designated an "extremist group" in Belarus on April 1, 2025.

In unserer Zeitschrift RGOW haben wir 2025 unterschiedliche Dimensionen des russischen Angriffskriegs auf die Ukraine beleuchtet. Auch Südosteuropa und den Südkaukasus und die dortigen zivilgesellschaftlichen Proteste gegen Korruption und Autoritarismus waren Thema.

Unsere ukrainischen Projektpartner widerstehen tagtäglich aufs Neue der Dunkelheit und bauen an einem neuen Morgen. Dabei sind sie auf unsere Unterstützung angewiesen. rgow.eu/projekte/aktue…

Unser Jahresbericht 2025 ist da! shorturl.at/ezsbW

Bedeutend, aber umstritten – Zum Tode von Patriarch Filaret von Alfons Brüning noek.info/hintergrund/41…

Der Patriarch zweier Epochen: Katholikos-Patriarch Ilia II. von Georgien von Sophie Zviadadze noek.info/hintergrund/41…

my op-ed in @nzz

Russian court bans Oscar-winning documentary “Mr. Nobody Against Putin” Prosecutors said the film takes a “negative attitude toward the 'special military operation'” while featuring the “extremist” anti-war white-blue-white flag. theins.press/en/news/290738

Patriarch Kirill wished success to Kim Jong-un, the leader of the most repressive country towards Christians. Patriarch Kirill of Moscow "heartily" congratulated Kim Jong-un on his re-election as leader of North Korea. He said the "election," in which the ruling party officially received 99.93% of the vote, "testifies to the broad support for your policy of strengthening the DPRK's sovereignty and promoting its prosperity." The head of the Russian Orthodox Church is also "pleased" that North Korea has one Orthodox church, which "has served as a place of unity for Orthodox believers for many years." "I wish you good health, prosperity, and success in your work for the benefit of your fellow citizens," he concluded. According to Open Doors, North Korea is arguably the most dangerous place on earth to follow Jesus. If someone is discovered to be a Christian, the consequences are unimaginably stark: either imprisonment in one of its notorious labour camps, with little hope of release, or immediate execution. The same fate is likely to await other family members.

On 19 March 2026, an Orthodox believer, Iryna Yakauleva, an accountant from Minsk, was sentenced in Belarus to eight and a half years of imprisonment in a penal colony. Yakauleva, who is about to turn 58, was detained on 31 October 2024 in connection with the so-called “courtyard chats” case. She was reportedly charged under Article 357 of the Criminal Code of Belarus — “conspiracy or other actions aimed at seizing state power.” On the same day, the “Courtyard Coalition ‘Orden’,” which authorities claimed included a number of local neighborhood chats, was added to the list of entities allegedly involved in “extremist activities.” Iryna Yakauleva was named among those linked to this “formation.” It is known that Yakauleva is an active Orthodox believer, engaged in church handicrafts and supporting churches and monasteries in Belarus through donations. She has already spent nearly a year and a half in pre-trial detention.

In Russia, religious scholar Luchenko was sentenced to eight years in prison. Russian Orthodox journalist and religious scholar Ksenia Luchenko was sentenced in absentia to eight years in prison for allegedly spreading military "fakes." A Moscow court found her guilty of disseminating fake news about the Russian army (Clause "d" of Part 2 of Article 207.3). She was also banned from administering websites for four years. The Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against Luchenko in September 2025. On October 24, she was placed on the wanted list and arrested in absentia a month later. The case was prompted by a July 2024 post on her channel "Orthodoxy and Zombies" about a Russian strike on a hospital in Kyiv.

Am 17. März in Zürich: PUSHING BOUNDARIES Ukrainischer Dokumentarfilm, 2021 Zu den Paralympics in Sochi 2014 und dem Verlust des ukrainischen Trainingslagers auf der Krim. Filmpreis der Stadt Zürich 2021

Russland: Patriarch drückt Beileid über Tötung Khameneis aus ...und weitere neue Nachrichten auf noek.info

In Russia, a priest was sentenced to 5.5 years in prison for a Facebook "like." On March 10, Hieromonk Nikandr (Pinchuk) was tried in Russia for a Facebook "like" in support of the Russian Volunteer Corps, a military unit within the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Russian authorities deemed this a public call to commit terrorist activity, a public justification of terrorism, or terrorist propaganda. He was arrested in October 2025. In 2022, he was fined 100,000 rubles for allegedly repeatedly discrediting the Russian army.

Zur Exkommunizierung von kritischen Theologen und zur Absetzung eines Erzbischofs in der Serbischen Orthodoxen Kirche... ...und weitere neue Meldungen auf noek.info

FRESH OFF THE PRESS Soviet Parallels and Inspirations for Russian Atrocities in the Russo-Ukrainian War, 2014–25 By Oleksa Drachewych ibidem.eu/en/Topics/Soci… @ibidem11

Russia’s Supreme Court designates the Russian Antiwar Committee a “terrorist movement” The ruling was issued by the same judge who declared the nonexistent “international LGBT movement” and “international Satanism movement” as “extremist” in Russia. theins.press/en/news/289877

Russia is preparing a significant restriction on religious freedom. Bills have been introduced in the Russian parliament banning missionary activity and religious services in residential premises, as well as religious rites and ceremonies in non-residential premises of apartment buildings and in built-in or attached spaces. The bill would target all faiths that practice home meetings, small congregations without their own buildings or with insufficient funds to rent them, home groups, as well as family prayers, communion, funeral services with relatives, and other religious practices held in homes. Representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church, Protestant churches and organizations, and Muslims have already spoken out against the bill. They hope that Putin will oppose the legislation, which was drafted by deputies under his control.

The African Exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church is helping to deceive Africans into traveling to Russia, where they will soon be recruited to fight in the war against Ukraine. Vocal Africa, a pan-African human rights group, reports that hundreds of Kenyan families have sought help after their sons traveled to Russia under church-linked arrangements. The pattern is disturbingly consistent: young men are approached by individuals connected to the Moscow-aligned Church, offered salaries far above local standards, and encouraged to travel on short-term visas. Once in Russia, their documents are confiscated, bank accounts are opened in their names but controlled by military commanders, and the promised wages vanish. The next step is conscription.