New Restrictions Threaten Protestant Churches in Khabarovsk, Russia

Reported by pastors of various Protestant churches in the Far Eastern Russian region of Khabarovsk, a local law restricting missionary activity has been introduced.

The law was launched without any notification to religious groups. Under the law, church activities are only permitted when the church is registered and such registration is only valid within the territory where it is registered. In this way, it hinders the expansion of churches into new areas because the church will have to go through all the registration processes each time they pioneer a new church in another area.