23 October 2026
KAZAKHSTAN: Anti-war independent Orthodox priest given 4-year jail term
https://www.forum18.org/
After 8 months in detention, an Almaty court jailed 40-year-old independent
Orthodox priest Fr Yakov Vorontsov for 4 years on drug-related charges on 7
October after a closed trial. «In the house where I lived, they planted
prohibited substances,» Fr Yakov wrote from prison. «I was accused of
storing synthetic drugs, which I never used and never touched.» He has
appealed. Police Investigator Daniyar Kametov, who led the investigation,
refused to comment. Fr Yakov criticised Russia’s war against Ukraine and
twice tried to register his independent Orthodox parish.
* See full article below. *
23 October 2026
KAZAKHSTAN: Anti-war independent Orthodox priest given 4-year jail term
https://www.forum18.org/
By Felix Corley, Forum 18
On the evening of 7 October, at the end of a closed trial, Judge Zhasulan
Khusainov of Medeu District Court No. 2 of the southern city of Almaty
finally allowed some observers and cameras in for the sentencing of
40-year-old independent Orthodox priest Fr Yakov Vorontsov. The Judge
jailed him for 6 years on drug-related charges which he denied. Taking
account of an amnesty, the sentence was reduced to 4 years’ imprisonment.
The Judge refuses to allow the full verdict to be made public. Fr Yakov is
appealing to Almaty City Court.
«The verdict issued today is, in our opinion, illegal,» Fr Yakov’s lawyer
Galym Nurpeisov told the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights
and the Rule of Law after the hearing. «No evidence was presented here. We
showed it. We disagree with the verdict.» He described the conviction and
jail term as «political persecution» (see below).
Officials claim that during a 13 February raid on Fr Yakov’s home by masked
OMON riot police with dogs, they found 2.44 grams of a drug. The criminal
case had been opened before the raid took place. Fr Yakov has been in
detention since then. He was subjected to a compulsory psychiatric
assessment from May to July (see below).
«In the house where I lived, they planted prohibited substances,» Fr Yakov
wrote from prison on 14 October. «I was accused of storing synthetic drugs,
which I never used and never touched. I have many sins for which I would
consider punishment fair. But God allowed me to be punished not for the
real guilt, but for the underhandedness, to be expelled for the truth, to
suffer for convictions, for freedom of conscience» (see below).
On 16 September, the first day of Fr Yakov’s trial, Judge Khusainov
declared it closed, against the wishes of the defence. Forum 18 asked Judge
Khusainov’s secretary (who had herself attended the trial) why the Judge
had declared the trial closed. Forum 18 has received no response (see
below).
Forum 18 was unable to reach Adlan Ismailkhanov of Medeu District
Prosecutor’s Office, who led the prosecution case in court. Telephones were
busy or went unanswered (see below).
Police Investigator Daniyar Kametov, who opened the criminal case and led
the investigation that ended with the conviction of Fr Yakov, refused to
comment on his conviction and jailing. «For an official comment go to the
press service,» he told Forum 18. He then put the phone down (see below).
Fr Yakov remains in Almaty’s Investigation Prison until the appeal is
heard. Fr Yakov’s sister, Svetlana Mitko, was able to visit him in
Investigation Prison on 21 October. She said her brother was «doing well»
and found her visit a «great comfort». «He continues to fight for justice.
They even tried to pressure him into signing a confession — they
practically demanded it — but he refused. They picked the wrong person to
mess with!» (see below).
Fr Yakov – who leads a fledgling independent Orthodox parish after the
Moscow Patriarchate defrocked him in 2023 — defends his actions over
several years. «For a long time, I have openly and publicly opposed
military aggression, supporting Ukraine, which is in the face of evil, in
its struggle for freedom and independence. I still adhere to these beliefs
now. For a long time, I boldly and publicly opposed the politicisation and
militarisation of the [Russian Orthodox] church» (see below).
«And here I am in prison,» Fr Yakov added. «Of course, all this was done
with the aim of preventing the registration of our community» (see below).
Almaty City Justice Department officials rejected the parish’s first
registration application in December 2025. The Justice Department again
rejected the parish’s January 2026 application (see below).
Meanwhile, another trial is underway in nearby Taldykorgan in Zhetisu
Region. The trial of nine Sunni Muslims accused of membership of the banned
Muslim missionary movement Tabligh Jamaat is due to resume on 30 October
(see forthcoming F18News article).
The trial of the nine follows the December 2025 conviction of 12 other
Sunni Muslims for alleged membership of Tabligh Jamaat. The court handed
down jail terms (https://www.forum18.org/
to 5 years.
The family of Guldaria Sherizat – who is due to start her 5-year jail
term in spring 2027 after her youngest daughter turns 14 — have expressed
concerns about her health. She was among 19 Kazakhs originally from
Xinjiang in China who were convicted for taking part in a protest
(https://www.forum18.org/
government’s actions against Xinjiang’s Kazakhs. The Chinese authorities
had jailed her husband Alimnur Turganbay in July 2025 for protesting
against the jailing in Xinjiang of his nephew Serik Dauitbek for praying
(see forthcoming F18News article).
Officials twice reject independent parish’s registration application
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. In July 2023,
the Diocesan Council ruled that he should be defrocked
(https://www.forum18.org/
to create an Orthodox parish in Almaty under the Ecumenical Patriarchate,
but later sought to register an independent Orthodox parish.
In the months before his February 2026 arrest, Fr Yakov worked on
registering the Independent Community of Orthodox Christians in Honour of
the Transfiguration of the Lord.
«Our community intends to come under the spiritual guidance of the
Ecumenical Patriarch, and until this is achieved, the religious association
is an independent autonomous non-confessional community continuing the
traditions of those Orthodox communities in Central Asia, led by the holy
martyrs Iosif (Petrov) and Kirill (Smirnov),» Fr Yakov wrote from prison on
14 October.
The founding assembly of the religious association elected Fr Yakov as its
leader. The community submitted all documents for its registration as a
religious organisation to Almaty City Justice Department.
Justice Department officials rejected the parish’s first registration
application in December 2025. The Justice Department again rejected the
parish’s January 2026 application
(https://www.forum18.org/
«In March 2026, we expected to receive registration,» Fr Yakov wrote.
«Satan has mobilised against our community. His servants publicly slandered
me, calling on the authorities to repress me. And here I am in prison. Of
course, all this was done with the aim of preventing the registration of
our community.»
Fr Yakov added: «Yes, the community did not receive registration. Yes, its
elected leader was deceived and deprived of freedom. But the community was
formed.»
«Covert audio and video recording»
Fr Yakov Vorontsov always had numerous visitors at his home in Almaty,
which he shared with family members and another resident. Officials
conducted «covert audio and video recording» of Fr Yakov’s home for 30 days
from 14 November 2025, according to the 7 October short court verdict.
Two men – who were given pseudonyms in the case – were said to have
visited him in late 2025. They later spoke to the Investigator against Fr
Yakov, accusing him of drug use. One was excluded by the time the case
reached court as the prosecution could produce no evidence that he existed.
The other appears to have been an undercover police officer.
During the raid by masked OMON riot police with dogs on 13 February 2026,
police found three packets
(https://www.forum18.org/
2.44 grams of drugs. Neither of the two state-required witnesses to the
raid saw officers retrieving the packets, according to the lawyer’s October
2026 supplementary appeal against Fr Yakov’s conviction. Fr Yakov believes
the drugs were planted.
Investigators opened a criminal case
(https://www.forum18.org/
«organising a den for drug use» under Criminal Code Article 302 on 13
February, just before the raid.
Forced psychiatric examination
On 18 May, Almaty’s Specialised Inter-District Investigative Court granted
the investigator’s request to replace Fr Yakov Vorontsov’s pre-trial
detention with detention in a specialised psychiatric medical institution
as a «security measure» during the investigation. Neither Fr Yakov nor his
lawyer were present at the hearing. Although Fr Yakov appealed against the
decision, the authorities transferred him to a psychiatric institution in
Aktas in Almaty Region on 25 May, before his appeal could be considered.
On 6 May, Police investigator Daniyar Kametov, who was leading the
investigation, refused to explain to Forum 18
(https://www.forum18.org/
psychological/psychiatric examination of Fr Yakov was needed.
In July, Fr Yakov was transferred from the psychiatric hospital in Aktas
back to the pre-trial detention centre in Almaty. Doctors concluded that Fr
Yakov had no mental health abnormalities and that there was no reason to
require his compulsory treatment.
Hunger strike over closed trial hearings
Prosecutors handed the criminal case against Fr Yakov Vorontsov to Almaty’s
Medeu District Court No. 2. He was accused under Criminal Code Article 302
(«organising a den for drug use») and Article 296, Part 4 («Illegal
production, processing, acquisition, storage, transportation without the
purpose of sale of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, their analogues
in especially large quantities»).
However, on 14 September Fr Yakov’s lawyer announced that the court had
dropped the accusation under Criminal Code Article 302 just before the
trial was to begin.
The trial under Judge Zhasulan Khusainov finally began on 16 September,
with further hearings on 6 and 7 October. Fr Yakov rejected the charges
against him.
Fr Yakov’s lawyer Galym Nurpeisov and his public defender, his sister
Svetlana Mitko, attended all the hearings. Adlan Ismailkhanov of Medeu
District Prosecutor’s Office led the prosecution case in court.
Against the wishes of the defence, and with more than 50 of Fr Yakov’s
supporters present at the court, Judge Khusainov declared the case closed
at the 16 September hearing. The Judge claimed that this was necessary to
protect a participant in the trial (a reference to one of the «secret»
witnesses). That meant that neither Nurpeisov nor Mitko can reveal what
occurred during the trial.
Forum 18 asked Judge Khusainov’s secretary (who had herself attended the
trial) in writing before the start of the working day in Almaty of 23
October why the Judge had declared hearings in Fr Yakov’s trial closed.
Forum 18 had received no response by the afternoon of 23 October.
«For seven months, I have been held in custody unlawfully, despite being
completely innocent,» Fr Yakov wrote from Investigation Prison on 18
September while his trial was underway. «The criminal case against me has
been fabricated; the charges are absurd and bear no relation to the truth.»
Fr Yakov announced that he had started an indefinite hunger strike on 16
September, consuming only water. «I declared the hunger strike in protest
against the decision of Judge Khusainov to conduct the proceedings behind
closed doors. I believe that the judge made this decision without
justification and unlawfully, exceeding his authority and abusing his
power, thereby grossly violating my constitutional and procedural rights.»
Fr Yakov later gave up the hunger strike.
4-year jail term
On the evening of 7 October, at the end of the closed trial, Judge Zhasulan
Khusainov of Medeu District Court No. 2 finally allowed some observers and
cameras in for the sentencing of Fr Yakov Vorontsov.
The Judge read out the final part of the verdict in a small courtroom, with
Fr Yakov in the defendant’s box. Many of those who came to support the
priest had to watch proceedings from a monitor in a larger nearby room, the
Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and the Rule of Law in
Almaty noted the following day
(https://bureau.kz/goryachee/
The Judge convicted Fr Yakov under Article 296, Part 4 («Illegal
production, processing, acquisition, storage, transportation without the
purpose of sale of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, their analogues
in especially large quantities»).
Judge Khusainov handed Fr Yakov a 6-year jail term in a medium-security
labour camp, close to the maximum 7-year jail term. His sentence is deemed
to run from 23 February 2026. Taking account of an amnesty for the adoption
of Kazakhstan’s new Constitution, the sentence was reduced by a third to 4
years’ imprisonment, according to the short verdict seen by Forum 18. The
Judge refuses to allow the full verdict to be made public.
Judge Khusainov also ordered Fr Yakov to pay 20 Monthly Financial
Indicators, 86,500 Tenge, to the victims’ fund. He also ordered him to pay
nearly 40,000 Tenge in court fees. (The combined fees represent about one
week’s average local wage.)
«The verdict issued today is, in our opinion, illegal,» Fr Yakov’s lawyer
Galym Nurpeisov told the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights
and the Rule of Law
(https://bureau.kz/kk/ystyq/
verdict was handed down. «No evidence was presented here. We showed it. We
disagree with the verdict.» He described the conviction and jail term as
«political persecution».
The Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and the Rule of Law
said the final court proceedings «moved at an accelerated pace». «A few
hours after the closing arguments, the verdict was announced — well after
the working day had ended,» it noted on 8 June
(https://bureau.kz/goryachee/
observed, the timing of this evening verdict happened to coincide with
[Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s birthday.»
Forum 18 was unable to reach Ismailkhanov of Medeu District Prosecutor’s
Office. Telephones were busy or went unanswered on 22 and 23 October.
Investigator Daniyar Kametov of Almaty City Police, who opened the criminal
case and led the investigation that ended with the conviction of Fr Yakov,
refused to comment on his conviction and jailing. «For an official comment
go to the press service,» he told Forum 18 on 22 October. He then put the
phone down.
«Outrageous lawlessness and injustice»
«If possible, tell everyone that I am innocent,» Fr Yakov Vorontsov wrote
from Almaty’s Investigation Prison on 9 October. «I have not broken down
and have not admitted guilt. It was proposed to me that I offer a
hypocritical repentance for what I did not do. Then they would have given
me a suspended sentence. But I did not take on this sin.»
Fr Yakov wrote again from prison on 14 October. «In the house where I
lived, they planted prohibited substances. I was accused of storing
synthetic drugs, which I never used and never touched. I have many sins for
which I would consider punishment fair. But God allowed me to be punished
not for the real guilt, but for the underhandedness, to be expelled for the
truth, to suffer for convictions, for freedom of conscience.»
Fr Yakov defended his actions over several years. «For a long time, I have
openly and publicly opposed military aggression, supporting Ukraine, which
is in the face of evil, in its struggle for freedom and independence. I
still adhere to these beliefs now. For a long time, I boldly and publicly
opposed the politicisation and militarisation of the [Russian Orthodox]
church, fought against clerical despotism and the self-rule of hierarchs —
against those evils that destroyed the church from within and led to the
situation where the vocal minority leads the church through apostasy, and
the silent majority indulges it.»
Fr Yakov added: «Faced with outrageous lawlessness and injustice, being
condemned to a long prison term without guilt, I forgive everyone. For the
months spent in detention, God led me through repentance and purification.
He placed peace in my heart and taught me to forgive everyone.»
Appeal and supplementary appeal
The Prosecutor and Fr Yakov were each given 15 days to lodge an appeal
against his 7 October conviction and jail term to Almaty City Court. Fr
Yakov has lodged an appeal.
Because the trial was closed and the full verdict secret, the text of Fr
Yakov’s appeal cannot be made public.
However, his lawyer Galym Nurpeisov lodged a supplementary appeal (seen by
Forum 18) questioning various aspects of the case.
«The defence does not dispute the composition of the substance as
determined by the expert, nor the fact that it was discovered,» the
supplementary appeal notes. «However, these documents merely confirm where
the substance was found, as well as its composition and mass; they do not
establish that Vorontsov was aware of the substance or that he was in
actual possession of it.»
The supplementary appeal notes that the two official witnesses to the 13
February house search arrived only after police had discovered the drugs.
Police had not filmed the discovery of the drugs.
Among other complaints, the supplementary appeal questions the Judge’s
decision to declare the trial closed. It maintains that the witness could
have been protected when he testified without declaring the whole trial
closed. «This argument is supplementary and does not replace the primary
ground for reversal: the failure to prove guilt.»
In Almaty’s Pre-Trial Investigation Prison
Fr Yakov has been held in Almaty’s Pre-Trial Investigation Prison since his
arrest. He is likely to remain there until his appeal is heard.
Fr Yakov’s sister, Svetlana Mitko, was able to visit him in Investigation
Prison on 21 October. «The Lord has rewarded us for the long time we were
kept apart before the trial,» she told Forum 18 from Almaty on 22 October.
As Fr Yakov’s public defender, she is able to visit him once a week as he
awaits his appeal. «However, if the appeal is unsuccessful, I will lose
this status.»
Mitko said her brother was «doing well» and found her visit a «great
comfort». «He continues to fight for justice. They even tried to pressure
him into signing a confession — they practically demanded it — but he
refused. They picked the wrong person to mess with!»
Mitko added that she was «infinitely grateful» for those around the world
who supported her brother up to and during his trial. She cited in
particular the German-based group Peace to All (which supports anti-war
Orthodox clergy), the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and
the Rule of Law in Almaty, and Forum 18.
Fr Yakov’s address in Investigation Prison: 050045, g. Almaty, Turksibsky raion ul. Krasnogorskaya 73
More reports on freedom of thought, conscience and belief in Kazakhstan
(https://www.forum18.org/
For background information, see Forum 18’s Kazakhstan freedom of religion
or belief survey (https://www.forum18.org/
Forum 18’s compilation of Organisation for Security and Co-operation in
Europe (OSCE) freedom of religion or belief commitments
(https://www.forum18.org/
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(https://bsky.app/profile/
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