A video emerged and went viral showing Russia’s President Vladimir Putin receiving and kissing a copy of the Quran during his visit to Chechnya as Ukraine continues its surprising incursion into Russian territory.
The Russian Republic of Dagestan in the country’s North Caucasus region is holding three days of mourning following an attack by Islamic militants in two cities that targeted Orthodox Christian and Jewish houses of worship as well as a traffic police post that killed 20 people, mostly police officers.
Russian special forces killed inmates suspected to be linked to the Islamic State (IS) group after the prisoners broke out of a cell in a Russian detention center and kidnapped two prison officers, holding them hostage.
Russia has experienced its worst terror attack in decades after radical Islamic militants dressed in camouflage uniforms brazenly opened fire at a music venue and reportedly threw explosive devices inside the concert hall, which was left in flames and its roof collapsing after the terror attack.
The Russian president signed a bill that completely prohibits the public expression of LGBTQ+ life in the country.
According to reports, the newly signed bill makes it illegal to spread anything about LGBTQ+ life in Russia. It prohibits "any action or the spreading of any information that is considered an attempt to promote homosexuality in public, online, or in films, books or advertising."
On March 6th, during a Forgiveness Sunday sermon, Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, hinted that the pride parades caused the war on Ukraine. Kiril implied that the expanding liberal Western values justified Putin’s war.
A well-known American televangelist came out of retirement to announce that Vladimir Putin, the Russian President, is invading Ukraine because he was "compelled by God."
On December 23, 2021, in an annual news conference held in Moscow, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said disrespecting the Prophet Mohammed is not freedom of expression. Insults against the Prophet Muhammad are a "violation of religious freedom and the violation of the sacred feelings of people who profess Islam."
A Pew Research Center annual study identified 41 independent states that imposed different restrictions on religious groups and organizations. According to the study, government restrictions limit religious expressions by targeting an entire faith, social movements, and political organizations with religious ties.
On October 11, Monday, the Pavlovsky District Court of the Krasnodar territory in southern Russia sentenced the disabled 59-year old Vladimir Skachidub to more than four years in prison. Skachidub's sentence came from 2020 criminal charges for preaching his religious faith.
