Source: www.forum18.org
Date: February 20, 2026
https://www.forum18.org/archiv
By Felix Corley, Forum 18
Fr Yakov Vorontsov – an independent Orthodox priest in the southern city
of Almaty – is due to complete a 10-day jail term on 23 February on drugs
charges that he and his supporters reject. His supporters fear he might be
rearrested on criminal drugs charges. The priest – who marks his 40th
birthday today (20 February) – leads a newly-created parish that has
tried to gain state registration. Justice Department officials rejected the
first application. The parish lodged a second application on 9 January.
Fr Yakov is a strong critic of Russia's war against Ukraine and of the
Moscow Patriarchate for supporting the war. Kazakhstan's Orthodox Church
under the Moscow Patriarchate defrocked Fr Yakov in July 2023 (see below).
Investigators began a criminal investigation of Fr Yakov for alleged
"incitement" for comments he made online about the Moscow Patriarchate and
Russia's war. The investigator closed the case only in April 2025 after
nearly 16 months. Russian Orthodox clergy have publicly called for the case
to be reopened (see below).
On 20 November 2025, Orthodox Christians met in Almaty to found the
Independent Community of Orthodox Christians in Honour of the
Transfiguration of the Lord, with Fr Yakov as leader of the community. On
17 December 2025, the parish lodged its registration application with
Almaty City Justice Department. The application had signatures of 54
founders. Article 12 of the Religion Law requires a local religious
organisation to have at least 50 adult citizen founders (see below).
The Justice Department rejected the parish's registration application six
days later. It said one of the founders was ineligible. The parish lodged a
challenge to the rejection in court, but withdrew it when it submitted a
new application on 9 January 2026. The Justice Department officials who
rejected the application did not answer their phones each time Forum 18
called (see below).
On 9 January, Fr Yakov complained to the Justice Ministry in Astana on
behalf of the Transfiguration of the Lord parish over the "unlawful denial
of registration". The Justice Ministry's Registration and Legal Services
Committee rejected the complaint in a two-minute online hearing chaired by
M. Zhamaliyev. He refused absolutely to answer any questions about the
rejection of the parish's complaint. "We give no comments," he told Forum
18 (see below).
On 7 January, "strange behaviour" began around Fr Yakov's home in Almaty.
"Men in civilian clothes came to my house and secretly took photographs,"
he told Forum 18. Unknown people also started calling those who signed the
parish's registration application. "On 8 January, some people posing as
officials called the participants of the founding meeting and asked whether
they had truly and voluntarily participated in the meeting and whether they
supported the initiative to establish a church" (see below).
At about half past midnight on 13 February, OMON riot police with dogs
raided Fr Yakov's home in Almaty. They were accompanied by investigators.
Police searched his home, claiming later to have found a "powdered
substance". They then arrested him. On 13 February, an Almaty court
sentenced him to 10 days' imprisonment on drugs charges (see below).
Forum 18 could not reach anyone at Almaty Police prepared to answer
questions on the raid and arrest (see below).
Fr Yakov denied that the powder found in his home belonged to him. "I
imagine that it was planted with the aim of sorting me out and discrediting
me," he wrote in a letter from prison. "The whole world knows of my choice
of the Gospel, not of the 'Russian World' [russky mir]; peace and not war;
freedom of conscience and not submission to evil clothed in episcopal
omophorions [robes]" (see below).
Fr Yakov wrote that he now faces a criminal investigation, which "appears
to be fabricated and ordered".
Fr Yakov's lawyer Galym Nurpeisov believes the authorities launched the
original criminal case (closed in 2025), then the administrative and then
new criminal case for two reasons. "It was a result of his wanting to
register an independent Orthodox parish, and of his criticism of Russia's
war against Ukraine," he told Forum 18 (see below).
Human rights defender Galym Ageleuov, head of the Liberty human rights
group, insists that there is no substance to accusations that Fr Yakov
maintained a drug den in his home. He sees Fr Yakov's case as important for
wider society. "The fate of Yakov Vorontsov is very important because he is
like a litmus test, an indicator of the state of our country, and it is
important to support him in this difficult moment" (see below).
State-imposed Muslim monopoly, Russian Orthodox monopoly also?
The regime has granted a monopoly on Muslim activity to the
state-controlled Muslim Board (Muftiate) without ever explaining why it is
doing so. The Muslim Board is the only registered Muslim organisation in
Kazakhstan, and all mosques must be subject to it
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
unregistered Muslim prayers and education
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
prayer rooms.
Earlier, the regime was prepared to register non-Moscow Patriarchate
Orthodox communities. Several communities - including those of the True
Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad - existed outside
the framework of the Moscow Patriarchate's local dioceses. However, the
regime appears now to have a policy of preventing the exercise of freedom
of religion or belief by any new Orthodox communities outside the framework
of the Moscow Patriarchate.
Fr Gennady Subbotin leads a non-Moscow Patriarchate community in Kostanai
Region which had its church in Oktyabrskoe taken from it
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
thinks officials listen to the views of the Moscow Patriarchate Church,
which does not want other Orthodox jurisdictions to exist. "Most likely
they wouldn't give registration if we applied now," he told Forum 18 in
April 2025 (https://www.forum18.org/archi
hope that if they make life difficult for us, we'll renounce our position"
Laura Shirimbayeva, head of the Religious Affairs Committee's Department
dealing with Christian and other communities in the Culture and Information
Ministry in Astana, would not say directly if Orthodox communities outside
the framework of the Moscow Patriarchate would or would not be allowed to
register. "Anyone has the right to lodge a registration application if it
meets the requirements of the Religion Law," she told Forum 18 in December
2024 (https://www.forum18.org/archi
Asked if it would register for example a community subject to the
Ecumenical Patriarchate, as then being proposed by Fr Yakov Vorontsov,
Shirimbayeva responded: "They have not yet lodged any application." She
then put the phone down. Shirimbayeva did not answer her phone each time
Forum 18 called on 19 and 20 February 2026.
Fr Yakov's 16-month criminal investigation closed in April 2025
Anti-war Orthodox priest Fr Yakov (Vladimir Yuryevich Vorontsov, born 20
February 1986) was a priest of Kazakhstan's Orthodox Church under the
Moscow Patriarchate, serving in his native city of Almaty, including at the
city's Ascension Cathedral. In July 2023, the Diocesan Council ruled to
defrock him (https://www.forum18.org/archi
originally hoped to create an Orthodox parish in Almaty under the
Ecumenical Patriarchate, but more recently has sought to register an
independent Orthodox parish.
In August 2023, Fr Yakov wrote a 104-word post on Facebook complaining that
the Russian Orthodox Church Moscow Patriarchate – with which he was
increasingly disillusioned because of its support for Russia's war against
Ukraine – "has long had nothing in common with Christianity". After an
anonymous denunciation, Almaty Police summoned him for questioning
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
in late 2023.
On 27 December 2023, Almaty City Police opened an investigation into Fr
Yakov (https://www.forum18.org/archi
Code Article 174, Part 1 over the Facebook post, according to case
materials seen by Forum 18.
Article 174 (https://www.forum18.org/archi
punishes "Incitement of social, national, clan, racial, or religious
discord, insult to the national honour and dignity or religious feelings of
citizens, as well as propaganda of exclusivity, superiority or inferiority
of citizens on grounds of their religion, class, national, generic or
racial identity, committed publicly or with the use of mass media or
information and communication networks, as well as by production or
distribution of literature or other information media, promoting social,
national, clan, racial, or religious discord" with a maximum punishment of
a 7-year jail term.
On 22 April 2025, after nearly 16 months, Police Investigator Samat Atakhan
of Almaty City Police's Investigation Department finally closed his
criminal investigation into Fr Yakov. The 5-page decision to close the case
– seen by Forum 18 – declares that "the criminal case is subject to
closure because of the absence in [Fr Yakov's] actions of the substance of
a criminal offence".
"Of course, you could say that 16 months of my life was stolen," Fr Yakov
wrote on Facebook on 8 May 2025. "It's difficult to say how much in nerves
all this cost me and those close to me. And no one will compensate me for
this. But I hold no grudge against anyone."
Investigator Atakhan refused to discuss anything with Forum 18 in December
2024. He did not answer his phone each time Forum 18 called in April or May
2025.
Investigator Atakhan's boss at Almaty Police, Lieutenant-Colonel Irina
Litvinenko, refused absolutely to discuss the criminal investigation into
Fr Yakov. "I can't give any information," she told Forum 18 in April 2025
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
phone down. She did not answer her phone when Forum 18 called in May 2025.
Justice Department rejects Orthodox parish's registration application
On 20 November 2025, Orthodox Christians met in Almaty to found the
Independent Community of Orthodox Christians in Honour of the
Transfiguration of the Lord. The 54 adult citizens present (28 men and 26
women) elected Fr Yakov as leader of the community.
On 17 December 2025, the independent parish lodged its registration
application with Almaty City Justice Department. The application had
signatures of 54 founders. Article 12 of the Religion Law requires a local
religious organisation to have at least 50 adult citizen founders.
On 23 December 2025, Almaty City Justice Department, rejected the parish's
registration application. The rejection, signed by Deputy Head Zauresh
Zatkhozhina (and seen by Forum 18), claims that one of the 54 founders is
the only founder of an inactive legal entity. Having a founder of such an
inactive legal entity violates Article 11 of the Law on State Registration
of Legal Entities.
Zatkhozhina of Almaty City Justice Department did not answer her phone each
time Forum 18 called on 19 and 20 February 2026. Nor did Olga Pak, head of
its Control and Registration of Non-Commercial Organisations Department,
who co-signed the registration rejection.
Parish resubmits application amid threats
On 7 January, "strange behaviour" began around Fr Yakov's home in Almaty.
"Men in civilian clothes came to my house and secretly took photographs,"
he told Forum 18 on 9 January. He added that when his neighbour saw them,
they pretended to leave. Then they returned and started taking photographs
again. "Why would they secretly photograph my house? They could have asked
- I would have sent them the photos myself."
Unknown people also started calling those who signed the parish's
registration application. "On 8 January, some people posing as officials
called the participants of the founding meeting and asked whether they had
truly and voluntarily participated in the meeting and whether they
supported the initiative to establish a church," Fr Yakov told Forum 18 on
9 January. "An investigation is underway. This is strange, since a refusal
order has been signed, and we haven't resubmitted the documents yet, so
there are no grounds for an investigation."
On 9 January, the Transfiguration of the Lord parish resubmitted its
application to Almaty City Justice Department.
Human rights defender Galym Ageleuov, head of the Liberty human rights
group, noted on his YouTube channel on 18 February
(https://www.youtube.com/watch
refuse to register religious communities, such as the independent Orthodox
parish led by Fr Yakov, this would show they do not want religious
communities "to have the possibility to breathe freely. It turns out that
the most important thing for such a state is control."
Suit to annul the Justice Department rejection
Fr Yakov prepared a suit against Almaty City Justice Department over the
registration denial, which he lodged to Almaty City Specialised
Inter-District Administrative Court on 10 January. The suit called for the
court to annul the Justice Department's rejection of the application and to
order it to register the Orthodox community.
On 3 February 2026, Judge Ulyana Zhalmukhambetova ruled that there was no
reason not to proceed with hearing Fr Yakov's suit. She set an online
hearing to prepare for the initial hearing for 5pm on 9 February, according
to her ruling seen by Forum 18.
"The court secretary created a group in advance. Got the participants in,"
Fr Yakov wrote that evening on his Facebook page. "We are waiting. But the
hearing didn't start at 5pm, nor until now. There are no explanations. I
ask in the group: whether the hearing will take place or will it be
postponed - there is no answer. Is this normal court practice?"
Fr Yakov then withdrew the suit because of the parish's new registration
application. "If there is a new refusal, the suit can be reinstated," his
lawyer Galym Nurpeisov told Forum 18.
Justice Ministry rejects parish's complaint "without considering merits of
our arguments"
On 9 January 2026, Fr Yakov complained to the Justice Ministry in the
capital Astana on behalf of the Transfiguration of the Lord parish over the
"unlawful denial of registration". The Justice Ministry's Registration and
Legal Services Committee rejected the complaint in a two-minute online
hearing chaired by M. Zhamaliyev on 16 January. The written rejection,
prepared by M. Zhamaliyev, was signed by a Committee Deputy Chair Dauren
Kusainov.
Fr Yakov said the Justice Ministry dismissed the complaint "without
considering the merits of our arguments", as he wrote in a complaint to the
United Nations.
Kusainov did not answer his phone each time Forum 18 called on 19 February.
Reached the same day, Zhamaliyev refused absolutely to answer any questions
about the rejection of the parish's complaint. "All is in the official
response," he told Forum 18. "We give no comments," he replied to all
further questions. He then put the phone down.
Complaint to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
On 22 January, Fr Yakov sent a complaint on behalf of the parish to the
United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (and seen
by Forum 18).
"The religious group adheres to anti-war beliefs and seeks to establish
itself independently of the Moscow Patriarchate," Fr Yakov wrote. "The
Russian Orthodox Church is waging an information campaign against our
religious group and exerting pressure on the state - the Republic of
Kazakhstan - using Russian media to prevent the establishment (or official
registration) of our religious community."
Fr Yakov insisted that "the creation of our communities poses no threat to
the interests of the Russian Orthodox Church".
Moscow Patriarchate calls for criminal case to be reopened
Priests of Fr Yakov's former diocese of Almaty of the Russian Orthodox
Church of the Moscow Patriarchate called in January 2026 in social media
videos for the criminal case for "incitement" of "discord" to be reopened
against him.
On 20 January, the Moscow-based Russian Orthodox television channel Spas
– owned by the Moscow Patriarchate – broadcast a 45-minute talk show
attacking Fr Yakov.
Fr Yakov is suing Russian Orthodox clergy for defamation in the courts, his
lawyer Galym Nurpeisov told Forum 18.
Arrest, 10-day jail term
At about half past midnight on 13 February, OMON riot police with dogs
raided Fr Yakov's home in Almaty. They were accompanied by investigators.
Police searched his home, claiming later to have found a "powdered
substance". They then arrested him.
Officials had already obtained approval for the raid from Almaty City
Investigative Court, his lawyer Galym Nurpeisov told Forum 18. (Like other
cases related to Fr Yakov, the hearing is not included in public court case
listings.)
Forum 18 could not reach anyone at Almaty Police on 19 or 20 February
prepared to answer questions on the raid and arrest.
A hastily-arranged medical examination of Fr Yakov claimed to find a
narcotic in his blood. "I believe there could have been a medical mistake,"
Nurpeisov told Forum 18. He insists that Fr Yakov should not have been
arrested before the medical examination had taken place.
Officials prepared a case against Fr Yakov under Administrative Code
Article 440-1 ("Non-medical use of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances,
their analogues, as well as potent substances"). They sent the case to
Almaty Specialised Inter-District Administrative Court. On 13 February,
Judge Saule Khozhakhmetova found Fr Yakov guilty and sentenced him to 10
days' imprisonment.
The Judge's secretary did not answer the phone each time Forum 18 called on
20 February.
"The administrative case has just been held this lunchtime," Fr Yakov's
lawyer Galym Nurpeisov noted on 13 February. "They gave him 10 days'
imprisonment in the administrative case. He did not admit guilt. I will
lodge an appeal. I am now waiting for the court decision."
Nurpeisov lodged the appeal on 15 February. In the evening of 17 February,
Almaty City Court rejected the appeal. (Like other cases related to Fr
Yakov, the hearing is not included in public court case listings.)
Nurpeisov complains of "procedural violations" over the appeal. "As my
client was in custody, the appeal should have been heard within 24 hours,"
he told Forum 18.
Fr Yakov is due to complete his 10-day jail term at 8 am on 23 February. It
remains unclear if officials will release him then or hold him for further
investigation on criminal charges (see below).
Fr Yakov rejects drugs allegations
On 16 February, one of Fr Yakov's lawyers Dias Akhmetov visited his client
in Almaty Police's Detention Centre, the lawyer noted on his Facebook page
(https://www.facebook.com/dias
the same day. He posted a four-page handwritten letter that Fr Yakov had
written the previous day, asking that others report it.
Fr Yakov claimed the court had given him the 10-day jailing on the basis of
the "erroneous conclusions of the expert analysis". "The judge heard but
ignored the conclusions of my lawyer and me."
Fr Yakov noted the tribulations Satan "through his earthly slaves" had
unleashed on him "trying to destroy the initiative to create in Kazakhstan
an Independent Orthodox Church". He wrote of the "threats and risks" he had
long faced because of this.
"The whole world knows of my choice of the Gospel, not of the 'Russian
World' [russky mir]; peace and not war; freedom of conscience and not
submission to evil clothed in episcopal omophorions [robes]," Fr Yakov
insisted.
Fr Yakov denied that the powder found in his home belonged to him. "I
imagine that it was planted with the aim of sorting me out and discrediting
me," he wrote. He said many people visited his home. "Various people came
to me for pastoral comfort and a good word." He said it was "not hard to
guess" who might have wanted to discredit him.
Fr Yakov identified what he saw as the two main motivations for the case
against him. The first was to "hide their canonical crime", he wrote. "They
rushed to slander and false witness, and deprived me of my orders as a
priest, because of my striving for peace and for a faith independent of the
aggressor country and its religious institutions."
The second motivation was, Fr Yakov wrote: "Not to allow competition, to
prevent the appearance in Kazakhstan of an independent Orthodox religious
association."
Fr Yakov wrote that he now faces a criminal investigation, which "appears
to be fabricated and ordered".
New criminal case
Fr Yakov's lawyer Galym Nurpeisov also noted to the local media on 13
February that a new criminal case had been opened. Officials at the moment
regard Fr Yakov as a witness in the case.
Almaty Police later announced that the criminal case related to "organising
a den for drug use" (presumably under Criminal Code Article 302).
"A man born in 1986 was detained on suspicion," the Police announced.
"Powdered substances were seized during the search. A medical examination
confirmed his drug use."
Police Investigator Samat Atakhan – who led the investigation in the
"incitement" criminal case against Fr Yakov at Almaty City Police's
Investigation Department in 2024 and 2025 – did not answer his phone each
time Forum 18 called on 20 February.
Nurpeisov told Forum 18 on 19 February that he was unable to comment on the
criminal case against Fr Yakov because of the ongoing investigation.
Human rights defender Galym Ageleuov, head of the Liberty human rights
group, insists that there is no substance to accusations that Fr Yakov
maintained a drug den in his home. "Those who came to his home were mostly
those who wanted to support him," he noted on his YouTube channel on 18
February (https://www.youtube.com/watch
"found their own parish".
Why the state pressure?
Fr Yakov's lawyer Galym Nurpeisov believes the authorities launched the
original criminal case (closed in 2025), then the administrative and then
new criminal case for two reasons. "It was a result of his wanting to
register an independent Orthodox parish, and of his criticism of Russia's
war against Ukraine," he told Forum 18.
Human rights defender Galym Ageleuov, head of the Liberty human rights
group, also defends Fr Yakov. "He is absolutely sincere and honest, and he
wants to advance the interests of those who are for peace," he told Radio
Liberty's Kazakh Service on 17 February
(https://www.azattyqasia.org/a
"There is no propaganda in his sermons."
"This is not a schism," Ageleuov noted on his YouTube channel on 18
February (https://www.youtube.com/watch
possibility to be an independent entity in Kazakhstan and form their own
direction in Orthodoxy. This is good, because if you oppose war and are
ready to speak about it, this is on the contrary a plus."
Ageleuov sees Fr Yakov's case as important for wider society. "The fate of
Yakov Vorontsov is very important because he is like a litmus test, an
indicator of the state of our country, and it is important to support him
in this difficult moment." (END)
More reports on freedom of thought, conscience and belief in Kazakhstan
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Forum 18's compilation of Organisation for Security and Co-operation in
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(https://www.forum18.org/archi
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