The Rostov-on-Don prosecutor's office has demanded a ban on a Christian Baptist organization.

The Rostov-on-Don district prosecutor's office found violations in the activities of the International Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists and demanded its ban.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," in May 2025, a court banned the religious association "International Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists Church Kurganinsk" for illegal missionary activity. According to the prosecutor's office, the organization failed to notify the Ministry of Justice of its activities and failed to register, and its missionary activities violated the law.

The Rostov-on-Don Pervomaisky District Prosecutor's Office filed a lawsuit demanding a ban on the activities of the religious group "International Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists," Kommersant reported today, citing the joint press service of the region's courts.

According to the agency, the prosecutor's office explained that it was acting in the interests of "an unspecified group of persons," and the basis for the lawsuit was a violation of the federal law "On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations." The details of the claim are not specified, the publication writes.

The religious organization's territorial structure consists of 17 associations (including the Rostov-Donetsk branch), the publication notes.

As a reminder, in 2024, a court in Tuapse fined Baptist pastor Anatoly Mukhin, finding him guilty of illegal missionary activity. Two witnesses testified at the hearing. One of them said that a stranger handed him a brochure about Baptists on the street, after which he decided to attend a service. There, the man heard that Baptists "denied weapons and any military activity." He didn't like this, as he supports the fighting in Ukraine.

In 2019, Yuriy Kornienko, a pastor at a Baptist church in Novorossiysk, was charged with violating laws on freedom of conscience, freedom of religion, and religious associations. The charge followed a visit by law enforcement officers to a private home in the village of Verkhnebakansky, where a service was being held. About 70 believers attended.

Protestantism entered the North Caucasus in the second half of the 19th century. Protestant organizations in the North Caucasus Federal District are winning the battle for the minds of young people against the Russian Orthodox Church, which is sluggish in the region, according to the article "500 Years of the Battle for Souls: Protestants Winning Against the Russian Orthodox Church in the Caucasus," prepared by the "Caucasian Knot" in October 2017.