Officers of the National Guard, Investigative Committee, and Federal Security Service (FSB) in the southern Krasnodar Region arrested an independent Orthodox priest on 27 November and searched his church, seizing devices and money. Investigators then kept Fr Iona Sigida in custody overnight and appear to have tortured him during interrogation, according to parishioners. The next day, Slavyansk City Court placed him under house arrest until late January 2026.

Following the raid on the church, a parishioner "found a terrible mess" afterwards. "They'd rummaged through the sanctuary, barbarously turning everything upside down", a church member outside Russia told Forum 18. "According to the parishioners, they raked all the money out of the collection tin [kruzhka] and took whatever other money they could find. Of course, they grabbed all the [electronic] devices they could find" (see below).

Investigators have charged the 34-year-old Fr Iona under Criminal Code Article 354.1 ("Rehabilitation of Nazism"), Part 4 ("Dissemination of information expressing overt disrespect for society about days of military glory and commemorative dates of Russia associated with the defence of the Fatherland, as well as desecration of symbols of military glory of Russia, insult to the memory of defenders of the Fatherland or humiliation of the honour and dignity of a veteran of the Great Patriotic War, committed publicly"). The charges carry a maximum punishment of five years in prison (see below).

The charges appear to be based on articles he wrote over a year ago for the church's website, including one about Victory Day (9 May) and other Soviet holidays, a church member now outside Russia explained to Forum 18 (see below).

Forum 18 asked Krasnodar Region Investigative Committee:
- which materials from the church website investigators are using as the basis of their case;
- and why they have banned Fr Iona from leading worship services.
Forum 18 received no response (see below).

While Fr Iona was in custody, investigators or National Guard personnel beat him, shocked him with a stun gun, and forcibly shaved him, the church member told Forum 18. On coming home, he was "in a state of shock and depression", and his mother is "apparently still recovering from the shock" (see below).

It is unknown who exactly carried out the torture or whether they will face any consequences. Forum 18 asked both the Krasnodar Region National Guard and the Investigative Committee why they had considered it necessary to use physical violence and whether the alleged perpetrators had been suspended from duty and placed under investigation. Neither agency has responded (see below).

Fr Iona will spend his house arrest at the home attached to the church where he serves in Slavyansk-na-Kubani, which he shares with the church's 88-year-old Archbishop Viktor Pivovarov. While before, Fr Iona had cared for the Archbishop, his mother Tatyana Sigida commented to independent Russian media outlet Caucasian Knot on 1 December, "now he needs help himself" (see below).

It is unknown when Fr Iona's case will reach court. In a statement of 2 December (blocked outside Russia), the Investigative Committee noted that "investigative actions aimed at collecting and securing evidence are ongoing" (see below).

Officials have repeatedly targeted the Holy Intercession Tikhonite Church and its clergy. The city administration tried to have the church demolished as an "unauthorised structure". The local court convicted and fined Archbishop Viktor on both administrative and criminal charges. The court also fined Fr Iona on administrative charges. During an October 2023 raid on the church, armed men tortured Fr Iona (see below).

Multiple prosecutions, threat of church demolition

Viktor Ivanovich Pivovarov (born 8 February 1937) was ordained a priest in the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR), which opened parishes inside Russia in the early 1990s. In 2006, he became an Archbishop in the Russian [Rossiyskaya] Orthodox Church (RosPTs), which was founded after a series of splits within ROCOR. He now leads a rival branch of RosPTs which he established in 2009 after a further split. It is not in communion with either other parts of ROCOR or the Moscow Patriarchate.

In March 2023, Slavyansk City Court fined Archbishop Pivovarov 40,000 Roubles under Administrative Code Article 20.3.3, Part 1 ("Public actions aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation") for an anti-war sermon he had given in church.

Subsequently, the Archbishop continued openly to oppose Russia's war in Ukraine in his articles, his sermons, and in a video made by independent Russian media outlet Novaya Gazeta Europe and published on 5 May 2023.

On 3 October 2023, Slavyansk Inter-District Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee led a raid on the Holy Intercession Tikhonite Church, during which unidentified armed men physically assaulted, tortured, and detained the Archbishop's assistant, Hieromonk Iona (Ilya) Pavlovich Sigida (born 7 February 1991).

Fr Iona was later charged with "disobeying a police officer" (Administrative Code Article 19.3, Part 1), for which a court gave him two days' short-term imprisonment (administrativny arest). On 20 November 2023, Slavyansk City Court also fined Fr Iona 30,000 Roubles under Administrative Code Article 20.3.3, Part 1 ("Public actions aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation") for his article "The cult of war", which he had published on the church's website on 28 September 2023.

In late 2023, the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against Archbishop Viktor under Criminal Code Article 280.3 Part 1 ("Public actions aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation" more than once in one year). Investigators took the Novaya Gazeta Europe interview as the Archbishop's second offence, along with a blog post entitled "An answer to the question which concerns everyone today: what is this war?".

Slavyansk City Court found Archbishop Viktor guilty and fined him 150,000 Roubles on 8 April 2024.

In 2024, Slavyansk City Administration also attempted to have the church demolished as an "unauthorised structure" in which "a crime has been repeatedly committed against the basis of the constitutional order and security of the Russian Federation". On 18 June 2024, however, Slavyansk City Court refused to uphold the administration's lawsuit on the grounds that the statute of limitations for such a suit had long expired.

Because of the Archbishop's declining health and a broken leg which has severely reduced his mobility, the frequency of worship services in the church has lessened since late 2024. Fr Iona has been leading services, though rarely, the church member who lives outside Russia explained to Forum 18 on 27 November 2025.

Since the city administration's attempt to have the church demolished, the community had had no further problems with the state authorities until the latest raid on 27 November 2025.

Armed men break into church, arrest priest

On the morning of 27 November 2025, about ten armed and masked men arrived at the Holy Intercession Tikhonite Church in Slavyansk-na-Kubani, a church member who lives outside Russia told Forum 18 the same day. They sawed through the lock on the gate, then broke the locks on the church and the attached house where Archbishop Viktor Pivovarov lives with his assistant, Hieromonk Iona Sigida.

After searching the church and house and confiscating phones, laptops, money, and both priests' passports, they arrested Fr Iona and took him away by car without explaining where they were going.

A parishioner who helps Fr Iona look after Archbishop Viktor arrived at the church at about 8 am and initially believed the men to be workers. They would not allow him inside the yard, so he left and returned half an hour later with another parishioner. They found the men gone, and Archbishop Viktor "lying alone in the house". The Archbishop "barely managed to say that Iona had been taken away".

"The parishioner found a terrible mess afterwards. They'd rummaged through the sanctuary, barbarously turning everything upside down", the church member outside Russia told Forum 18. "According to the parishioners, they raked all the money out of the collection tin [kruzhka] and took whatever other money they could find. Of course, they grabbed all the [electronic] devices they could find."

Church members believed the armed men to be riot police – that is, members of the National Guard (Rosgvardiya). According to an Investigative Committee statement of 2 December (blocked outside Russia), an Investigative Committee investigator led the search, which also involved officers of the FSB.

It is unclear who else was present during the search, but it appears from some witness testimony that some parishioners saw what happened.

"I was scared", another community member, Valery, commented to Caucasian Knot on 28 November. "I thought it was some kind of criminal gang, because they started turning everything upside down and, as it turned out, were looking for money. They emptied every last donation from the church's coffers and stuffed it into their pockets."

Archbishop Viktor became unwell during the search, and the armed officers eventually called an ambulance for him, but he refused to go to hospital.

Fr Iona's mother, Tatyana Sigida, feared that her son had been kidnapped and so went to the police station, where she discovered that he was at Investigative Committee's offices, and that investigators intended to open a criminal case against him for publications on the church's website. When Tatyana pointed out that Fr Iona had not posted anything on the site in a long time, police officers responded that there were "enough old articles" there that he "could be accused of discrediting the army", Caucasian Knot reported on 27 November.

Charged with "Rehabilitation of Nazism", placed under house arrest

Investigators held Fr Iona overnight and took him to court the next day to have him placed under house arrest. According to the court order, issued by Judge Yuliya Pelyushenko of Slavyansk City Court on 28 November and seen by Forum 18, investigators have charged Fr Iona with two offences under Criminal Code Article 354.1, Part 4. They opened both cases on 20 November 2025, on the basis of information received from the FSB.

Criminal Code Article 354.1 ("Rehabilitation of Nazism"), Part 4 punishes "Dissemination of information expressing overt disrespect for society about days of military glory and commemorative dates of Russia associated with the defence of the Fatherland, as well as desecration of symbols of military glory of Russia, insult to the memory of defenders of the Fatherland or humiliation of the honour and dignity of a veteran of the Great Patriotic War, committed publicly", and when "committed by a group of persons, a group of persons by prior conspiracy or an organised group, or with the use of mass media or information and telecommunications networks, including the Internet".

The possible penalties are:
– a fine of 2 million to 5 million Roubles (20 to 50 months' average wage);
– up to 5 years' assigned labour (prinuditelniye raboty) plus "deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of up to five years";
– up to 5 years' imprisonment plus "deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of up to five years".

Judge Pelyushenko agreed to investigators' request to put Fr Iona under house arrest until 20 January 2026. According to the court order, Fr Iona himself did not object to this. During this period, he is barred from leaving the church address where he lives with Archbishop Viktor, speaking with anyone involved in the case (though nobody else is known to have been charged, and it is unclear who may be called as witnesses), and using the telephone, internet, or postal service (except to communicate with investigators or lawyers, or to call emergency services). He must also obey any summons from the investigators or court.

Fr Iona arrived home on 28 November wearing an ankle tag, the church member outside Russia told Forum 18. He added that Fr Iona has also been forbidden to hold worship services.

In its 2 December statement, the Investigative Committee alleges that, between June 2020 and November 2025, Fr Iona "posted articles on a website he managed which were made publicly accessible. The articles negatively assessed the celebration of Victory Day and desecrated symbols of Russia's military glory".

Fr Iona and Archbishop Viktor posted articles on their church's website https://eshatologia.org until summer 2024. As well as discussing theology and liturgy, these writings often critically assessed aspects of Russian history and present-day society from a religious perspective. The website's contents have now disappeared (see below).

It is unclear exactly which posts form the basis of Fr Iona's prosecution, or why they have apparently drawn investigators' attention only now. "His article on Soviet holidays in general and 9 May in particular was mentioned", the church member outside Russia told Forum 18 on 29 November, but "it's hard to pinpoint specifics".

Forum 18 wrote to Krasnodar Region Investigative Committee on 1 December to ask:
- which materials from the church website investigators are using as the basis of their case;
- and why they have banned Fr Iona from leading worship services.
Forum 18 had received no response by the end of the working day in Krasnodar Region of 4 December.

Tortured to give up website access?

All content disappeared from the church website on the evening of 27 November, although the site itself still opens. "Fr Iona was most likely forced to break something on there. It can't be a coincidence that our website crashed just when the editor-in-chief disappeared", the church member outside Russia commented to Forum 18 on 28 November.

After his release from custody, Fr Iona showed signs of having been tortured. "He was beaten. He may have a concussion. He was shaved. His head was shaved. He was shocked with a stun gun. They beat him. This is how they extorted the login details he knew for access to the website", the church member told Forum 18 on 29 November. "They're not even barbarians. They're animals", he added. "Now Fr Iona is in a state of shock and depression [and] Archbishop Viktor's condition is also judged to be deteriorating."

Fr Iona previously had long hair and a beard. In its 2 December statement, the Investigative Committee included a 44-second video, in which Fr Iona's head is blurred but it is still possible to make out his hair.

In the second part of the clip, in which an investigator asks Fr Iona to confirm his ownership of a laptop, Fr Iona still has long hair and a beard. In the first part of the video, which appears to have been filmed before the second and in a different room, the same investigator puts the charges to Fr Iona and another man places handcuffs on him. At this point, it appears that Fr Iona has shaved or closely cropped hair and no beard.

A parishioner called Aleksey told Caucasian Knot on 1 December that he had seen Fr Iona after he had left court on 28 November. "I didn't recognise him right away. He was with his mother. He looked unusual: his head was shaved, his beard was shaved, and his cassock was torn across the chest and stomach. Iona said he was going to the police to get his internal passport, but they weren't returning his international passport. He was completely devastated. I advised him to seek forensic medical attention or call an ambulance, but he simply waved his hand and walked on. His mother was crying and followed him."

Police had unexpectedly summoned Fr Iona to sign "some special papers" after he applied for an international passport earlier this year, the church member outside Russia told Forum 18 on 27 November. He subsequently received the passport in June, though has not travelled abroad since. The armed men who raided the church on 27 November also confiscated Archbishop Viktor's international and internal passports.

Russia's obligations under Convention against Torture

Russia is a party to the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. This defines torture as "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity."

Under the Convention, Russia is obliged both to arrest any person suspected on good grounds of having committed, instigated or acquiesced to torture "or take other legal measures to ensure his [sic] presence", and also to try them under criminal law which makes "these offences punishable by appropriate penalties which take into account their grave nature".

On 29 September 2025, Russia formally withdrew from the Council of Europe's European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which it had ratified in 1998.

In a statement on 30 September, the European Union's European External Action Service called this "one more step in Russia's complete disengagement from its international commitments and clearly demonstrates Russia's disregard for the protection of human rights".

Forum 18 wrote to Krasnodar Region Investigative Committee and Krasnodar Region National Guard on 1 December to ask why they had considered it necessary to use physical violence against Fr Iona and whether the alleged perpetrators had been suspended from duty and placed under investigation. Forum 18 had received no response from either agency by the end of the working day in Krasnodar Region of 4 December.

"A brutal, cynical, and shameless attitude"

Parishioners continue to come to the church to support Archbishop Viktor, who needs ongoing care. The confiscation of about 100,000 Roubles of parish savings has left the community in a difficult position, and they are "scrambling to raise funds, as there is literally not a kopek left", the church member outside Russia told Forum 18 on 29 November.

"They've put Archbishop Viktor's life at risk, since his upkeep is very expensive due to his age and, above all, his failing health." The church member explained on 30 November that treatment at a local free medical facility had left Archbishop Viktor's leg injury in a worse state than before. He has subsequently been "forced to seek help only from private practitioners or private clinics".

"I am certain that such a brutal, cynical, and shameless attitude is nothing more than a desire to instil the same sort of primal fear," the church member noted. "It is undoubtedly successful." He pointed to the fears people had during the Stalinist years. "It was shared by them. It will be shared by those in the present too."

The church website's contents have not reappeared. "I don't know what exactly happened, but I'm guessing that security forces hacked the site, gaining access by confiscating Sigida's phone and computer", a parishioner called Igor told Caucasian Knot on 29 November. "I can say that many parishioners learned of this and were very upset, because the site was visited by many, and for many, it was a place where they could breathe the air of truth."

"What's happening is no secret to me", Archbishop Viktor commented to Caucasian Knot. "What's happening now is written in the holy books. But despite everything, we must not be afraid and maintain good spirits and faith in the best." (END)

More reports on freedom of thought, conscience and belief in Russia

For background information see Forum 18's Russia religious freedom survey

Forum 18's compilation of Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) freedom of religion or belief commitments

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