Fifteen religious schools have been closed in the North Caucasus
Law enforcement agencies in the North Caucasus reported stopping the illegal education of more than 400 children in religious institutions. In 2025, the Ministry of Internal Affairs suspended or terminated the activities of 15 such educational institutions.
Sergey Bachurin, head of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the North Caucasus Federal District, reported drawing up 22 administrative reports for illegal missionary activity and identifying seven teachers whose work was deemed unlawful. These measures were based on amendments to the law "On Freedom of Conscience," which restrict missionary activity by prohibiting it in residential premises.
Earlier, authorities in Kabardino-Balkaria ordered the return of children from religious families who had been transferred to home schooling to schools. In Makhachkala, schools No. 13, No. 15, and No. 61 introduced separate registration of girls wearing hijabs in their class social security records at the request of the juvenile affairs inspectorate. In North Ossetia, a school principal forbade a student from wearing a hijab, fearing the school would become a "madrassa." In Adygea, Muslim teachers were effectively barred from teaching children, even when parents chose the "Fundamentals of Islam" module.
