This article is published through the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of news organizations in Utah that aim to inform readers across the state.
The Russian government is apparently not a fan of Brigham Young University.
At the end of April, Russia surprisingly placed the religious Utah school on its official list of “undesirable” organizations — the label the country gives to groups that it considers a threat. Entities on the list are banned from operating in Russia and anyone affiliated with them can be criminally charged and imprisoned.
The addition of BYU to Russia’s list was first reported by The Moscow Times, an online publication known for its English coverage of the country that started in 1992 after the collapse of the Soviet Union. (The newspaper got a label from the country, too, of “foreign agent,” as well as being on the “undesirable” list, and now operates outside of Russia.)
Led by President Vladimir Putin, Russian leaders have targeted any people or organizations it views as critical of the government, including news outlets, human rights groups and political associations.
The list from the Ministry of Justice of Russia does not indicate an official reason as to why BYU, which is sponsored by the Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was added.
But it lists a date of “publication of information on recognition of the organization’s activities as undesirable” for the school as Feb. 6.
That same day, BYU held an event at its David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies called “Russia as a Global Threat.” It was a discussion led by Sonata Coulter, the U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state who oversees policy toward Russia.
During the event, according to coverage by BYU’s student newspaper, The Daily Universe, Coulter said the government in Russia used its power to oppress other countries “through decades-long deals and resource demands.”
She also quoted U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has called the country a threat to global stability. At the same time, though, President Donald Trump has had a closer relationship with Putin than past U.S. leaders, and he has backed away from joining international calls for Russia to cease fire in the ongoing war against Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the larger LDS Church that oversees BYU hasn’t condemned Russia’s invasion. It has instead called generally for peace. Notably, the church itself is not on the “undesirable” list.
BYU was added to the list the same day as the Körber-Stiftung Foundation in Germany, a nonprofit that has long partnered with a Russian human rights group.
The school didn’t immediately return The Salt Lake Tribune’s request for comment.
Neither organization can now operate in Russia. Anyone considered to be acting with those groups or leading can face up to six years in prison, according to the government’s laws. There are 229 organizations total on the list.
BYU teaches a popular Russian language major that includes, according to the school’s website, a study abroad trip to the country. That would no longer be allowed under the country’s designation for the university.
Russia also banned in 2016 missionaries of all faiths. After the ban, the LDS Church continued to send what were then called “volunteers,” but there were limitations on what they could do. The church stopped sending its proselytizers there entirely in 2022 as the war with Ukraine ramped up.
A relatively small cohort in the faith remains in Russia, where the church’s records note there are 18,000 members and 56 congregations.
The church said in 2018 that it plans to build a temple in a “major city” in Russia. But construction has not yet occurred.
The country largely restricts minority faiths from building there. It’s one of many stringent religious restrictions — such as when and where they congregants can meet and for what purposes — because Russia has said it doesn’t want other faithsluring away its citizens and believers from the Russian Orthodox Church.
