Is blasphemy illegal in Russia?
Criminal offense
Russia criminalizes public actions expressing disrespect for society and offending religious feelings with prison sentences.
Russia is one of 40 countries classified “Criminal offense” for blasphemy — 70% of the 57 with data.
Source
- Taken from
- Wikipedia: Blasphemy law
- Last checked
- 7 July 2026
- How it was classified
- Classified by a language model from the source text, then checked against hand-verified reference countries.
Nearby countries
- Finland
- Criminal offense Finland prohibits blasphemy with fines or up to six months imprisonment, targeting public disrespect toward religion.
- Norway
- No blasphemy law Norway removed its blasphemy law from the penal code in 2015.
- Sweden
- No blasphemy law Sweden has no explicit blasphemy law, though agitation against groups can be prosecuted.
- China
- Criminal offense China has laws against blasphemy, with examples of arrests and book bans related to insulting Islam, though not explicitly defined as blasphemy.
- Afghanistan
- Death penalty possible Afghanistan's blasphemy laws under Sharia can carry the death penalty, with executions reported since the Taliban takeover in 2021.
- Poland
- Criminal offense Poland criminalizes insulting religious feelings with fines or imprisonment up to 2 years.
Other laws in Russia
- Holocaust Denial
- Criminal offense
- Flag Desecration
- Criminal offense
- Conversion Therapy
- No ban
A visual reference compiled from Wikipedia’s law-by-country articles, not legal advice. Laws change and summaries simplify — check a primary source before relying on anything here.