Illustrative photo
Three Believers Detained After Searches in the Astrakhan Region
Astrakhan RegionOn November 9, 2021, searches of believers were carried out in Akhtubinsk and Znamensk. Dozens of people were detained for interrogation. Three men were sent to a temporary detention facility: 48-year-old Sergey Korolev, 60-year-old Sergey Kosyanenko and 34-year-old Rinat Kiramov.
The raids and interrogations began at about 6 am. In at least one of the cases - during a search at Rinat Kiramov's house - the security forces broke down the front doors of the believers' dwelling. Details are being clarified.
New searches and arrests in the region came shortly after the court handed down one of the harshest sentences since the ban on legal entities of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. On October 25, 2021, Rustam Diarov, Sergey Klikunov and Yevgeniy Ivanov were sentenced to 8 years, and Yevgeniy's wife, Olga, to 3.5 years in a general regime colony.