Raids by security forces in mosques near Moscow

Security forces conducted anti-migrant raids in the mosques of Kotelniki and Dzerzhinsky near Moscow, disrupting Friday prayers.

On July 7, 2023, riot police officers disrupted Friday prayers in Kotelniki near Moscow. Under the pretext of identifying illegal migrants, they broke into a house of worship during a service, wore shoes in the room, detained believers, using physical force and insulting those gathered. More than 60 people were detained during the raid.

A week later, on July 14, a similar raid took place at the Dzerzhinsky mosque near Moscow, also during a service. Some believers were laid face down on the floor.

Representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Moscow Region stated that their employees had nothing to do with the raid in Dzerzhinsky, however, the distributed video recordings show that those who came to the mosque had “police” and “Ministry of Internal Affairs” stripes on their black uniforms.

According to the head of the religious organization of Muslims in Kotelniki, Salavat Ibatullin, about 80% of their believers are Russian citizens, and all migrants detained during the raid have a residence permit.

Later, the Russian Community organization reported that the raid in Kotelniki was carried out at its request.

Sources

• Gabdullina Emilia. Kotelnikov Muslims ask to be protected from security forces // Kommersant. 2023. July 13.
• Krasno Andrey. Is there no place for Muslims here? Raids on Moscow mosques and reaction from the Caucasus // Caucasus.Realities. 2023. July 20.