RUSSIA: Anti-war Christian preacher facing criminal prosecutions

In 2023, Christian preacher Eduard Charov was fined for social media comments, including the remark: “would Jesus Christ have gone to kill in Ukraine????!” He now awaits criminal trial for further anti-war posts “discrediting” the armed forces. “Most likely, it will all end with a prison term for me”, he noted. Information on Charov’s case “is not subject to disclosure”, the Investigative Committee said. Orthodox priest Fr Ioann Kurmoyarov, jailed for also criticising Russia’s war in Ukraine from a religious perspective, was freed at the end of his sentence.