Has Russia outlawed any evangelism of faith apart from sanction by the Russian Orthodox, the state church and supporter of Putin?

 

Russia's Newest Law: No Evangelizing Outside of Church | News ...

The Yarovaya law forbids outside approved churches and other religious sites "the activity of a religious association aimed at disseminating information about its beliefs among people who are not participants (members, followers) in that religious association, with the purpose of involving these people as participants and its results"

Which thus requires

"telecom providers to store the content of voice calls, data, images and text messages for 6 months, and their metadata (e.g. time, location and message sender and recipients) for 3 years,"  

 The Yarovaya law increases regulation of evangelism, including a ban on the performance of “missionary activities” in non-religious settings.)." - https://arriveministries.org/living-as-a-persecuted-christian-in-russia/

The Yarovaya law (in Russian: Закон Яровой, transliteration: Zakon Jarovoy), also Yarovaya package/bag, is a set of two Russia n federal bills, 374-FZ and 375-FZ, passed in 2016. The bills amend previous counter-terrorism law and separate laws regulating additional counter-terror and public safety measures. It is known to the public under the last name of one of its creators—Irina Yarovaya. The amendments included an expansion of authority for law enforcement agencies, new requirements for data collection and mandatory decoding in the telecommunications industry, as well as the increased regulation of evangelism, including a ban on the performance of "missionary activities" in non-religious settings.

1. Legislative History

In April 2016 Irina Yarovaya, together with Aleksei Pushkov, and Nadezhda Gerasimova and senator Victor Ozerov introduced a project of legislation that would toughen penalties for extremism and terrorism.^[1] On 13 May 2016, the law passed after the first reading.^[2] Prior to that, it had received support from the prime minister's cabinet. On 7 July it was signed by the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin.

Most of the act's amendments came into effect on 20 July 2016.^[3] Amendments that require telecom operators to store recordings of phone conversations, text messages and users' internet traffic up to 6 months were announced to come into force on July 1, 2018. However, senator Anton Belyakov has submitted a proposal to move the regulations' effective date to 2023, because of the extreme amount of data storage technology needed to meet the requirements.^[4]

2. Content

2.1. Penal Provisions

The amendments of the Yarovaya law include lengthening of prison terms for a number of criminal activities, introduction of new reasons to deny entry or departure to and from Russia , and the introduction of criminal liability for failure to report to law enforcement authorities that someone else "has been planning, is perpetrating, or has perpetrated" terrorist activity.^[5][6]

2.2. Surveillance Provisions

The Yarovaya amendments require telecom providers to store the content of voice calls, data, images and text messages for 6 months, and their metadata (e.g. time, location and message sender and recipients) for 3 years.^[7][8] Online services such as messaging services, email and social networks that use encrypted data are required to permit the Federal Security Service (FSB) to access and read their encrypted communications.^[7][8]

Internet and telecom companies are required to disclose these communications and metadata, as well as "all other information necessary" to authorities on request and without a court order.^[9]

2.3. Anti-Evangelism Provisions

The amendments also include new restrictions on evangelism and missionary work.^[10] The amendments add a new provision to Russia's Religion Legislation, stating that "missionary activity" may only be performed "without hindrance" at churches and other religious sites designated by the chapter. It is explicitly banned from residential buildings. "Missionary activity" is defined as

The activity of a religious association, aimed at disseminating information about its beliefs among people who are not participants (members, followers) in that religious association, with the purpose of involving these people as participants (members, followers). It is carried out directly by religious associations or by citizens and/or legal entities authorised by them, publicly, with the help of the media, the internet or other lawful means".^[11]

Missionary activities may not be used to pursue violations of public safety, "the motivation of citizens to refuse to fulfil their civic duties as established by law and to commit other illegal acts", suicide, or the refusal of medical treatment on religious grounds as aims.^[11]

Missionary activities may only be performed by authorized members of registered religious groups and organizations.

3.2. Anti-Evangelism Provisions

A number of missionaries have been subject to arrest for violating the law and, upon conviction, have been fined. Donald and Ruth Ossewaarde, independent missionaries working in Oryol, were fined 40,000 rubles (around $700), prompting the couple to leave the country; Sergei Zhuravlyov, a Ukrainian Reformed Orthodox Church of Christ representative, was arrested for engaging in preaching in St. Petersburg; and Ebenezer Tuah of Ghana, the leader of the Christ Embassy church, was arrested and fined 50,000 rubles for conducting baptisms at a sanatorium.^[21]

On 9 July 2016, Jim Mulcahy, a 72-year-old American pastor who is the Eastern European coordinator for the U.S.-based Metropolitan Community Church, was arrested and deported under the prohibition of missionary activities at non-religious sites, after advertising and holding a "tea party" in Samara with an LGBT group. Authorities had targeted Mulcahy under suspicions that he was planning to organize a same-sex wedding.^[12][22][23]  - https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/29040

Christians are Severely Persecuted in Putin's Russia – But That Could ...

Christian Persecution Increasing in Russia - Christian News Headlines

Report: Non-Orthodox Christians Face 'Strong Discrimination' in Russia

Russia, other former Soviet republics persecuting Christians, new ...

Moscow church destroyed in sign of new Russian repression Posted on Sep 26, 2012 | by Jill Nelson

MOSCOW (BP) -- It was in the early hours of the morning on Sept. 6 when Pastor Vasili Romanyuk's phone rang. A group of men backed by local police were demolishing his Holy Trinity Pentecostal Church, housed in a three-story building nestled in a Moscow suburb. As word spread, congregants arrived at the scene hoping to save the building, but their efforts were futile. By dawn the church was in ruins and some of its most valuable contents were missing.

An isolated incident? A misunderstanding? Analysts watching the current climate in the former Cold War country don't think so: "This destruction of the church is about as concrete of evidence as you can get that something very bad and very troubling is taking place," said Katrina Lantos Swett, chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. "This could not have happened without the backing, support, and implicit blessing of the police."

The incident is just one sign of deteriorating freedoms in Russia, and behind the scenes a cozy relationship between the Kremlin and the Russian Orthodox Church has raised more than a few eyebrows. As President Vladimir Putin digs into his third term, a number of Kremlin crackdowns involving vague interpretations of the country's extremism law and other human-rights abuses are troubling signs that the country has slipped into a familiar, repressive era.

"When you have unknown people backed by the police coming out at midnight to begin tearing down a church, you know something doesn't smell right," Lantos Swett said.

Officials evicted Holy Trinity Church from its original building in 1995 and relocated the church to the eastern Moscow suburb. The congregation used its own funds to construct a new building and repeatedly battled officials over permits. The church demolition and its history reflect an emerging pattern: Authorities confiscate land from non-favored religious communities and force the congregation to relocate to a remote suburb, the religious leaders apply for permits that are subsequently denied, and officials confiscate (once again) or demolish the relocated congregation, citing lack of proper documentation.

Pastor Romanyuk and a small group of the church's 550 congregants arrived on site around 3:30 a.m. as about 45 men claiming to be civil volunteers blocked them from the building and threw stones. "When I arrived, I just burst into tears," 25-year-old Natalya Cherevichinik told The Moscow Times as she surveyed the destruction. "I couldn't believe that something that had been built over several years could be destroyed in a few hours."

Russian Evangelicals Leery of Orthodox Church, Friday, December 30, 2011:

class="adjusted">MOSCOW, Russia -- For decades, the Russian Orthodox Church was persecuted under the Soviet Union's Communist Party.

Since the early 1990s, the church has grown in size and influence as its relationship with the Russian government has improved significantly.

However, that cozy relationship worries the country's evangelicals.

Threats Against Evangelicals

For eight years, Yuri Sipko ran one of the largest Baptist organizations in Russia. Now, 20 years after the fall of Communism, he worries about the growing threats against the country's evangelical movement.

"The collapse of Communism was supposed to usher in an era of greater religious freedom, but I'm concerned we are moving in the wrong direction," Sipko said.

What makes the Russian evangelicals very concerned is an emerging relationship between the Russian government and the Russian Orthodox Church.

"For example, the government recently introduced religious classes based on the principals of the Orthodox Church in public schools," Sipko said.

"Then late last year, the Russian president announced an initiative to appoint Orthodox chaplains to all army units," he said. "Our constitution clearly states no religion can be the state religion."

Russia Church-State Relations

Russia watchers credit two men, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev, for elevating the church's prominence. The state media has also played a key role, often showing the leaders attending church services.

Sergey Ryakhovski knows both men well. As head of Russia's Pentecostal Union, he meets regularly with top government and Orthodox Church leaders.

Ryakhovski worries that the Orthodox Church's influence is coming at the expense of religious freedom, especially for minority groups such as Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Buddhists.

"There are so many laws and by-laws that regulate religious life in Russia," Ryakhovski said. "For example, evangelical Christians just can't go out and buy a church building or buy a piece of land to build a church."

"Plus, criticizing or challenging the Orthodox Church is not a task for all," he added.

Orthodox Church Revival

The Russian Orthodox Church on the other hand has had it easy in recent times after decades of state persecution.

Church buildings that were destroyed during the Soviet era have been rebuilt with Russian taxpayer money. In the past 20 years, the government has spent hundreds of millions of dollars restoring some 23,000 churches.

Most Russians say they belong to the Orthodox Church. Yet CBN News found mixed reactions on the streets of Moscow to the growing bond between church and state

At Expense of All Others, Putin Picks a Church

By CLIFFORD J. LEVY Published: April 24, 2008

STARY OSKOL, Russia —

It was not long after a Methodist church put down roots here that the troubles began.

First came visits from agents of the F.S.B., a successor to the K.G.B., who evidently saw a threat in a few dozen searching souls who liked to huddle in cramped apartments to read the Bible and, perhaps, drink a little tea. Local officials then labeled the church a “sect.” Finally, last month, they shut it down.

There was a time after the fall of Communism when small Protestant congregations blossomed here in southwestern Russia, when a church was almost as easy to set up as a general store. Today, this industrial region has become emblematic of the suppression of religious freedom under President Vladimir V. Putin.

Just as the government has tightened control over political life, so, too, has it intruded in matters of faith. The Kremlin’s surrogates in many areas have turned the Russian Orthodox Church into a de facto official religion, warding off other Christian denominations that seem to offer the most significant competition for worshipers. They have all but banned proselytizing by Protestants and discouraged Protestant worship through a variety of harassing measures, according to dozens of interviews with government officials and religious leaders across Russia.

Russia's De-Facto State Religion : Persecution : http://www ... www.persecution.org/?p=9350&upm...‎ International Christian Co... Putin frequently appears with the Orthodox head, Patriarch Aleksei II, ... Baptists, evangelicals, Pentecostals and many others who cut Christ's robes like bandits, ...

Government Returning Land to Religious Organizations to Favor Orthodox Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009: An ambitious draft law on the transfer of property of religious significance to religious organisations may reignite a process begun in 1993.

Pentecostal Seminary Targeted for Liquidation

Pentecostal Church Forced to Meet Outside in Moscow Winter

Russia: Governor Orders Church Land Grab

Council of Religious Experts threatens religious freedom

A new Inquisition ?

Russia “You have the law, we have orders ”

How Russia persecutes occupied Christians; Myroslava housing complex bombed....

Since the beginning of the war with Russia in 2014, Russian occupiers have put pressure on Protestant communities, while favoring Orthodox churches that were subordinate to the Moscow Patriarchate and, in turn, to Moscow.... Church workers and pastors have been regularly summoned for interrogation in places like Donetsk, and there have been numerous cases of people disappearing.

Evangelical Christians, such as those of the Baptist denomination like Tymur, are frequently harassed by Russian authorities who consider them to be spies. Tymur ended up in captivity only because of a desire to help a friend. ...In the days prior, the Russians had repeatedly accused Tymur of being a spy. He knew he was taking a risk by seeking help. But rather than assist his friend, they detained him and began interrogating him.... "They saw my photos from [church] services, they probably realized that I was just an ordinary citizen,” he said. None of the photos would be useful for espionage purposes. “So the Russians just said ‘Run home.”

But one day their church was visited by more Russians. "They stopped the whole service and started checking [our] documents. But at that moment a heavy firefight started right in our yard. Ukrainian snipers shot them. We had dead soldiers lying in our yard for several days after that, and we didn't know what to do with them," Tymur said. "When the Russian soldiers came, they did not see it as a church, but as a kind of cult...

Another person who has experienced Russia’s disdainful attitude towards Protestants is Oleksandr Vaschinin. He has been a Protestant since childhood...."There were times when they said, 'You are Americans, this is an American church, this is not [a Russian] church. We said we have been in Ukraine for almost a hundred years. But no one believed us," Oleksandr Vaschinin said. And if someone disagreed with something, they could be taken to the basement, where they were tortured or abused, or imprisoned.

"We were treated like dogs. They beat us. Some were killed. Some disappeared. We had a pastor who was beaten very badly. One pastor from Horlivka [occupied Donetsk Region] was kept in prison for 21 days," Oleksandr Vaschinin recalls. The pastor stayed in Donetsk until the so-called Russian authorities forced everyone to get Russian passports. Vaschinin and most of the other pastors refused and decided to leave their hometown. - https://www.counteroffensive.news/p/how-russia-persecutes-occupied-christians

.2013...Over the last several years, European and US religious conservatives have often rallied to the new Moscow-centered “traditionalist international.”...American evangelical heavyweight Franklin Graham began to warm to the Russian president as well. Viewing this remarkable rapprochement between American and Russian conservative Christians united by a culture wars agenda as potentially very harmful to the cause of human rights.

the World Congress of Families—perhaps the single most important forum for collaborative efforts between West European, American, and Russian hardline religious conservatives... A rebranded WCF VIII went ahead with Russian financing, much of it linked to the ostentatiously Orthodox oligarchs Konstantin Malofeev and Vladimir Yakunin. Now billed as a forum called “Large Families: The Future of Humanity,” the event featured American WCF leaders as planned....A year later, WCF IX was hosted in Salt Lake City, and Russian Orthodox Christians played a prominent role there... 

    The first sign of fraying relations came when the preparing for a World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians that Graham planned to host in Moscow, in collaboration with the ROC, was quietly put on hold by the Russian side last spring. In August 2016, however, Graham announced that the summit would be moved from Moscow to Washington, D.C. and take place May 10-13, 2017. Acting as if the initiative to break with Russia was his own, Graham cited Russia’s recent passage of an “anti-terrorism” package known as the Yarovaya Laws (for the key role of United Russia Duma deputy Irina Yarovaya in their passage) as his reason for moving the summit. These laws place severe restrictions on Protestants and other minority religious groups in Russia, essentially banning proselytizing. In effect from July 20 of this year, the Yarovaya Laws are already being enforced. Protestants are being detained and fined for conducting ordinary religious activities. 

    I reached out to William Yoder, a Belarus-based writer on church affairs who has decades of on the ground experience working with Protestant communities in Eastern Europe and Russia, to get his opinion on the current state of affairs. In his view, “the Yarovaya Laws are putting a damper on the budding relationship between the Christian right in the US and the Orthodox in Russia ... by persecuting Protestants, the Russian state is making it considerably more difficult for American Christian conservatives to count themselves among Putin’s right-wing fellow travelers. - https://publicorthodoxy.org/2016/10/25/yarovaya-conservatives-traditional-values/