A woman from the Sverdlovsk region has been sentenced to community service for financing the Ukrainian church "Revival."
The Asbest City Court delivered its decision on September 2, assigning the local resident 300 hours of mandatory work. She was charged under Part 2 of Article 284.1 of the Russian Criminal Code for financing an "undesirable organization."
According to the court’s website, the defendant repeatedly sent donations to the All-Ukrainian Spiritual Center "Revival" and its associated fund, while also communicating with its founder, Volodymyr Muntyan, and other members via messengers and social networks. The total amount transferred exceeded 81,000 rubles.
The investigation revealed that the woman frequently sent her funds to the bank accounts of organization participants. She fully admitted her guilt and requested a trial in a simplified procedure, which allowed the court to consider her cooperation and impose community service instead of a stricter penalty. The sentence has not yet entered into force and can be appealed.
This is not the first case of Russian citizens being prosecuted for financing "Revival." Previously, similar cases occurred in other regions. In Neftekamsk, Rezida Sadeeva was sentenced to 360 hours of community service for transferring around 33,000 rubles to the church and its charitable fund, both recognized as "undesirable" in Russia since November 2022. During the trial, Sadeeva admitted her guilt but stated that she believed the organization was lawful and aimed at helping the needy, pensioners, and children in oncology centers.
In April 2025, two women from Izhevsk were also sentenced for financing the church. 63-year-old Olga Leontyeva received a suspended sentence of one and a half years for donating nearly 263,000 rubles, while 25-year-old Dinara Akhmetova received 240 hours of community service. The initiation of criminal cases against them was reported by the press service of the Udmurt courts in February 2025. During the investigation, both were restricted in certain activities.
The "Revival" church was founded in the 1990s in Kirov, Russia, by Ukrainian native Volodymyr Muntyan. According to the church’s VKontakte page, it presents itself as a religious and spiritual organization. The Russian Union of Pentecostals previously accused Muntyan of using practices close to occult techniques. Ukrainian TV channel TSN reported that before establishing the church, Muntyan served three years in a special colony for fraud. Journalists, citing former associates, accused him of drug use, beatings, and sexual abuse.
After "Revival" was declared an "undesirable" organization in Russia in October 2023, three people were detained in Moscow on suspicion of organizing the church’s activities. The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office stated that the church’s activities pose a threat to the constitutional system and security of Russia.
Court materials indicate that the defendants made donations to support the church’s operations without knowing about possible illegal connections with banned organizations. The sentences note that Muntyan allegedly provided material aid to the Ukrainian armed forces and banned groups such as the "Right Sector" and "Azov," which the women claimed they were unaware of, believing such reports to be fake.
The "Revival" spiritual center continues to operate in several CIS countries. Despite its international presence, Russian courts continue to prosecute citizens for financially supporting the organization, demonstrating the authorities’ strict approach to controlling foreign religious centers deemed "undesirable" in Russia.
