Muslims in Krasnodar Kray Caught between Not Having Mosques and Being Punished for Praying in Their Homes

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Oct. 9 – Krasnodar Kray, commonly referred to as the Kuban, adjoins the North Caucasus and is increasingly the home of Muslims coming from there. Most of the latter are Muslims, and they suffer because there are few mosques in the kray and any who pray collectively at home are often charged and punished for “illegal missionary” work.

            Because the population of the North Caucasus republics continues to grow and the shortage of land thus is becoming ever more a problem, many North Caucasians are moving out, not just to major cities like Moscow where their presence is frequently noted but to neighboring and at least in recent times predominantly ethnic Russian areas.

            While the share of Muslims in Krasnodar Kray is still in the single digits, it is increasing extremely fast for two reasons not reflected in such official statistics. On the one hand, population and land pressures in the North Caucasus are driving more Muslims to move to a neighboring region whose climate and agriculture is much like their own.

            And on the other, those counted as ethnic Russians in Krasnodar not only are declining in number because of birthrates far lower than death rates but also because they are divided between those with Ukrainian backgrounds or even are now officially recognized by the regional authorities as Cossacks (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2022/03/tradition-of-ukrainian-and-cossack.html, windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2024/06/kyiv-must-devote-more-attention-to.html, windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2025/08/moscow-must-fight-to-prevent-ethnic.html and windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2018/11/despite-moscow-krasnodar-kray-has.html).

            The regional authorities have tried to keep Islam from growing and for their kray being as welcoming to people from the North Caucasus as it has been in the past, and now, the Kavkaz-Uzel news agency reports, ever more Muslims there are being harassed for practicing their faith (kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/427330).

            There are very few mosques in Krasodar Kray except in the Adygey Republic which is entirely surrounded by that Russain federal subject. As a result, Muslims there must travel enormous distances to attend prayers in an officially registered mosque. Few can afford to do so, and so they are now increasingly as in Soviet times praying in groups at home.

            That shouldn’t be a problem, but Russian officials have made it one by declaring that those who pray in groups at home are engaging in illegal missionary activity, arresting them, and even bringing charges that result in time behind bars. Not surprisingly, as the news agency reports, Muslims there are angry and are now trying to make their voice heard.