An American preacher was expelled from the country for illegal missionary work in Tuapse.

A court in Tuapse fined US citizen Brian Tibbits 30,000 rubles and deported him from the country for illegal missionary work at the "Sea Wave" children's camp.

US citizen Brian Tibbits, better known as Indradyumna Swami, was accused of illegal missionary activity.

During the "Sadhu Sanga" festival at the "Sea Wave" children's camp in Tuapse, he gave a speech to an audience of 100 people, including children. The lecture was deemed to be the dissemination of religious teachings, Kuban-inform reported today.

Tibbits himself claimed that he came to Russia at an invitation and was only sharing his life story, not calling on anyone to convert to Christianity. However, the court deemed his lecture to be dissemination of Hare Krishna religious teachings without documentation confirming his authority to conduct missionary work, and sentenced Tibbits to a fine of 30,000 rubles and administrative deportation from the country, according to the Kub Mash Telegram channel.

"Caucasian Knot" also reported that in November 2024, a district court in Sochi fined and ordered the deportation of Catholic priest Vladislav Klots, who had been conducting religious services in Russia for 28 years, for preaching. Earlier, a court in the city of Belorechensk in the Krasnodar Territory fined Baptist Daniil Litovkin 5,000 rubles, finding him guilty of illegal missionary work.