A criminal case has been initiated against members of the Resurrection Spiritual Center, also known as DSV, for alleged illegal activities, according to capital inspectors. The organization was founded in 2014 by a Ukrainian citizen named Vladimir Muntyan. Reports indicate that after serving a sentence in the Dnepropetrovsk region, he established the first community inspired by the methods of the Protestant leader Sunday Adelaja and discussed in the publication Vedomosti.
On October 4, investigators conducted searches at multiple addresses in Moscow as part of a case opened under parts 2 and 3 of Article 284.1 of the Criminal Code. A source close to the inquiry suggested that the case relates to the organization’s ongoing activities in Russia, despite earlier caution from the Office of the Prosecutor General in November of the prior year. Investigators found that funds were regularly gathered within the DCV initiative under the banner of charitable purposes and for helping the Ukrainian armed forces.
Since its inception in 2014, the religious association is reported to have extended to regional centers across Ukraine and other CIS countries. The DCV framework is described as relying on creating psychological dependence among followers through a combination of intense religious ceremonies featuring loud music and bright lighting, along with promises of personal financial improvement following donations. Followers are encouraged to acquire and study literature attributed to the apostle and to consume his lectures.
According to a religious movement expert, Oleg Neveev, such groups are often labeled as sects and are viewed as exploiting followers for the purposes of leaders and organizers. In the DCV case, funds raised under the pretext of spreading the group’s teachings are reported to be collected, seized, and distributed among leadership figures. Law enforcement agencies estimate the total number of adherents at about thirty thousand, with up to ten thousand located within Russia.
Earlier reporting described the situation in Crimea and compared it with broader Ukrainian contexts, noting concerns about totalitarian practices within similar movements.