Russian priest charged with justifying terrorism over social media comment

A priest from the Sverdlovsk region in Russia’s Ural mountains has been charged with justifying terrorism over a comment he made on social media.

Eduard Charov, founder of the non-denominational Christian Monastery of Mercy, had his home searched in late January over his comment on Russia’s biggest social network VK in which he “joked about the next attempt to set fire to the military enlistment office”, his wife wrote on his page on Wednesday.

Charov was released on condition that he did not go online, use the telephone or leave the area he lives in without the authorities’ permission. Since his arrest, Charov’s health has deteriorated and he was taken for a psychiatric examination on Monday after reporting that his hands had become numb.

This is not the first time Charov has faced legal trouble, however. He has been fined for inciting hate and “discrediting” the Russian army in the past, and in late 2022 he offered to shelter anyone hiding from mobilisation in a shelter for the elderly and homeless that he runs.