Tag: Soviet Union

Central Asian Christians feel repercussions of governments’ focus on Islamist threat

July 6, 2016 Central Asia, Hizb ut-Tahrir, Islam Karimov, Islamic extremism, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Saparmurat Niyazov, Soviet Union, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan

When the three suicide bombers who killed 44 people at Istanbul’s main airport on 28 June were identified as Russian, Uzbek and Kyrgyz nationals, it provided another reminder that the threat from the so-called Islamic State reaches far beyond Syria and Iraq. And nowhere is that threat being taken more . . . Read More

Russia approves ‘anti-missionary bill’

July 4, 2016 Russia Russia, Soviet Union, Vladimir Putin, Yarovaya Law

The upper chamber of the Russian Assembly has approved what is being referred to by one Christian organisation as an “anti-missionary bill”. ‘s Sergey Rakhuba says the the bill “prohibits missionary and evangelistic activity in residential areas of Russia and limits missionaries to acting only on behalf of registered religious . . . Read More

Central Asia in the spotlight as Azerbaijan hosts European Games

June 13, 2015 Ashgabat, Azerbaijan, Baku, Caucasus, Central Asia, Islam Karimov, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, London, Nursultan Nazarbayev, Saparmurat Niyazov, Soviet Union, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan

In a somewhat geographically and culturally challenging development, the first ever European Games begins today (13 June) in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is more usually identified as a Central Asian country, but the European Union considers it to be in what it calls its “European Neighbourhood” – what others . . . Read More

Russian dissident and priest Yakunin dies at 80

January 8, 2015 Russia Exile, Moscow, Russia, Russian Orthodox Church, Soviet Union

We’re getting to this news a bit late owing to the holidays, but wanted to share that Rev. Gleb Yakunin, a priest who was famous for protesting against corruption within the Russian Orthodox Church and Soviet Union died in Moscow on 25 December. According to the New York Times, Yakunin, . . . Read More

Russian takeover of Crimea leads to inter-Church tensions

June 9, 2014 Ukraine Crimea, Donetsk, Kiev, Patriarch Kirill, Russia, Russian Orthodox Church, Soviet Union, Sunni, Ukraine, Vladimir Putin

Reports of violence and intimidation by pro-Russian groups against non-Russian Orthodox Christians in Crimea and Eastern Ukraine are beginning to emerge. According to Ukraine’s Liga News website, on June 1, a group of armed men in traditional Cossack clothes attacked the Holy Virgin Ukrainian Orthodox Church Kiev Patriarchate (the UOC-KP) . . . Read More

The rise of Islamic extremism in Central Asia and the Caucasus

June 6, 2013 Afghanistan, Arab Spring, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Caucasus, Central Asia, Chechnya, Dagestan, Georgia, Hizb ut-Tahrir, Islamic extremism, Kazakhstan, Muslim Brotherhood, Russia, Soviet Union, Uzbekistan

Islamic extremism in Central Asia and the Caucasus will further increase in the next few years, predicts a new report by Anna Münster, a Fellow of the Russia and Eurasia Programme at Chatham House. US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2014, and expected regime changes in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan threaten to . . . Read More

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