Aleksey Lelikov, a music teacher and disabled person of group II, was sentenced to 6.5 years in a penal colony. February 2025
Aleksey Lelikov, a music teacher and disabled person of group II, was sentenced to 6.5 years in a penal colony. February 2025
Thousand Years for Faith: Repression Against Jehovah’s Witnesses — 2025 Year in Review
"Fewer arrests, but harsher punishments" — that was the headline of a similar review a year ago, when statistics gave hope that the crackdown on Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia was at least losing intensity, if not coming to an end. A year later, it's clear that this is not the case. In 2025, the number of raids, new criminal defendants, and incidents of unprovoked violence against believers has grown. Over more than eight years of persecution, the total prison terms handed down have exceeded 1,000 years. This article looks at the human side of what is hidden behind the dry reports of those who claim to fight "extremism" — extremism that has never been proven — and at what Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia have faced during the past year.
Millennium of Incarceration
Aleksey Lelikov has spent nearly his entire life immersed in music. For many years, he taught piano and, in 1994, even reached the finals of the "Teacher of the Year" competition in Krasnodar. Around that same time, Aleksey became one of Jehovah's Witnesses. He had never faced any legal trouble. Yet in February 2025, on sweeping charges of extremism, a court sentenced the 64-year-old believer with a disability to six and a half years in prison.
Aleksey is just one among 906 individuals whose lives have been irrevocably changed by persecution for their faith. Over eight and a half years of repression, more than 500 Jehovah's Witnesses—men and women—have served time behind bars, and 179 remain imprisoned to this day. Courts have issued verdicts against 665 believers. Of these, 215 people (32%) received prison sentences, and 146 of them (68%) were sentenced to five years or more. The combined length of prison terms now totals 1,128 years.
During the past year, 125 believers were convicted. Thirty-eight of them were sentenced to prison, with the overwhelming majority—30 people (nearly 80%)—receiving more than five years. The harshest sentence that year—seven years in a penal colony—was handed down to four believers: Yevgeniy Sokolov from Voronezh, Samvel Babayan from Samara, Ivan Neverov from Saransk, and Igor Lonchakov from Vladivostok. Yevgeniy and Samvel suffer from serious illnesses, while Igor is disabled.
Conditional sentences were given to 49 people (39%), and 37 were fined amounts ranging from 250,000 to 650,000 rubles.
Sixteen believers completed their prison terms last year and were released. Among them was Aleksandr Seredkin, 71, who was freed only after it was discovered he had an advanced form of cancer. "I'm still young," he joked, adding: "I want to recover and finish the Christian race to the end."
Torture, Violence, and Real Victims
In 2025, there were at least eight cases of unprovoked violence and cruel treatment against Jehovah's Witnesses — including incidents that meet the definition of torture under the UN Convention.
Over more than eight years of persecution, more than 70 believers have suffered such abuse. None of these crimes have been properly investigated, and none of the perpetrators have faced the punishment prescribed by law.
During the year, three elderly believers who were criminally prosecuted passed away: Liliya Dolinina, Lyudmila Shut, and Valeriy Baylo. Valeriy died in pretrial detention, never receiving the medical care he needed. In total, the number of deaths in the context of criminal prosecution has reached 16.
"Wishing You Many Happy Years Together in a Loving Family Home..."
At least 81 prosecuted individuals have documented serious health conditions, 34 of them are officially disabled. Today, 36 seriously ill believers are held in colonies and pretrial detention centers, where access to proper medical care is often impossible.
Boris Andreyev, 74, was declared a disabled person while in colony. The court sentenced him to six years, fully aware of his serious illness — a precancerous condition requiring regular medical monitoring was identified during the preliminary investigation. For more than a year in detention, Boris was unable to obtain a full medical examination, and his condition worsened. Only in 2025 did a medical commission confirm the diagnosis — cancer. Boris underwent a course of treatment.
Anatoliy Marunov, 72, serves a 6.5-year sentence in a penal colony. Even before his imprisonment, he had suffered a stroke and was diagnosed with heart failure, hypertension, and a prostate tumor. When his wife visited him in a colony in the Tambov region and saw his condition, she raised the alarm. "I was terrified," Alfia said. "He was covered in tubes, catheters, bags... He's no longer a person, but a living corpse..." In January 2025, Anatoly needed surgery, but it was impossible to perform in the region. The court refused to reduce his sentence despite doctors' warnings about the risk to his life. In October, he was hospitalized, and in December, a medical commission declared him a Group II disabled person. Meanwhile, the appeals court upheld the verdict, refusing to attach medical documents to the case. Today, Anatoly receives only partial medical care. In a bitter twist of irony, Moscow City Hall recently sent the separated Marunov family a congratulatory letter on their 50th wedding anniversary. Mayor Sergey Sobyanin praised the elderly couple as an example for young people and wished them "many happy years together in a loving family home."
Samvel Babayan, 53, from Samara was sentenced to seven years in colony. At the time of his arrest, he was preparing for major surgery, but treatment was disrupted. Soon after, his chronic internal illnesses worsened, including a tumor. He suffers constant spinal pain, has lost hearing in one ear, and has dropped 15 kilograms in weight. For more than a year, Samvel remained in pretrial detention without proper medical care. He now awaits transfer to a penal colony, where adequate treatment is impossible. Severe pain plagued him even during court hearings. The defense requested fewer sessions, but the court refused. At one hearing, Samvel collapsed and an ambulance was called — yet the trial continued without delay.
Secret "Shepherd"
Across the country, law enforcement agencies spy on believers, often using agents who pose as people interested in the Bible. For months — sometimes years — they secretly record conversations and later testify in court as anonymous witnesses.
One agent, Yekaterina Petrova, spied on a group of 17 Jehovah's Witnesses, including elderly people. Her statements led to prison sentences of up to eight years. Another example: nearly all criminal cases in the village of Vyselki, Krasnodar Territory, were fabricated through the efforts of an agent known in court under the pseudonym "Pastyr" (Russian for shepherd).
The only thing these spies manage to prove is that believers discussed the Bible and prayed to Jehovah. Often, the agents themselves end up giving testimony favorable to the defense during hearings. "I never heard him [the defendant] say that other religions are bad," Pastyr admitted at Spirichev's trial, where Viktor was later given a suspended sentence. Sergey Dvurechenskiy commented on the witness: "He's doing this for some reason — resentment or something else. That's his business, not mine to judge... There's still some hope that he'll come to his senses."
"The KGB used the same tactics during the Soviet-era ban on Jehovah's Witnesses. It's all in the archives and repeatedly documented by historians," says Yaroslav Sivulskiy, a representative of the European Association of Jehovah's Witnesses. "What did these spies uncover? The same as now: Jehovah's Witnesses are not enemies of society or the state. In 1991, a law was passed to rehabilitate victims of repression, and in 1996, a presidential decree explicitly instructed the Prosecutor General's Office, FSB, and Interior Ministry to ensure rehabilitation of citizens harmed by terror. Today's authorities cannot claim ignorance of this."
Gold Mine
"It seems that for law enforcement, the tactic of targeting entire families has become a gold mine: why go after real criminals? That's dangerous. It's much easier to go after the relatives of Jehovah's Witnesses who are already under investigation. Most believers have strong family ties, so chances are — husband, wife, son, daughter — they also read and discuss the Bible. It really looks like that's exactly what investigators are doing," commented one lawyer who has helped defend believers in numerous criminal cases.
In 2025, criminal cases were initiated against four married couples: Nikolay and Larisa Kosov from Cherkessk (under travel restrictions), as well as Tomsk residents Yevgeniy and Tatyana Dodolin, Yevgeniy and Yana Abramov, Aisulu Tastaybekova and Vladimir Pushkov (all currently in pretrial detention). The list of believers prosecuted after their family members grew to include Yelena Shestopalova (mother of Vladlena Kukavitsa) and Mariya Pankova (wife of Sergey Tolokonnikov).
"I was getting ready to attend my daughter Vladlena's trial," Yelena Shestopalova recalled the October events. "An early knock at the door surprised me: 'Could it really be a search on the very day of the trial?' I had already gone through one search, and I understood they could come again and open a case — it was only a matter of time." She added: "My life has changed a lot, but I never lost my joy and always believed that Jehovah would not abandon me in trouble."
Endless Loop of Criminal Case
Trials against many Jehovah's Witnesses have become cyclical: cases are sent back to the prosecutor's office, then the trial starts over; appeals overturn decisions, judges recuse themselves, the wait for a verdict drags on for years. This has happened in at least 33 criminal cases.
Another extreme: after securing a conviction, law enforcement opens yet another criminal case against the same believer. Some become defendants again while serving suspended sentences (such as Aleksandr Serebryakov or Oleg Postnikov). Others face new charges while already in a penal colony.
A telling example is Dmitriy Terebilov: he was prosecuted for answering a cellmate's questions about faith. In addition to the three years he had already served in a penal colony, the prosecutor requested another 10. "What's criminal about sharing your thoughts about God, discussing a passage from the Bible, or some scientific or historical fact?" He expressed his bewilderment during one of the hearings.
In reality, unjust punishment doesn't end even after release from a colony — believers continue to face additional restrictions. As a result, the actual duration of repression can exceed 20 years. For example, the prosecution of Dmitry Barmakin began in July 2018. After lengthy investigations and numerous court hearings, he was sent to a penal colony, from which he is scheduled to be released in November 2029. After that, his freedom will be restricted for another year, followed by 10 years of administrative oversight. In total, if nothing changes, the persecution of Dmitry and his family will stretch to 22 years.
Life on Hold
Loss of freedom is not the only hardship faced by Jehovah's Witnesses who are being persecuted. The state employs numerous methods to restrict their rights. For example, before a verdict is reached, defendants are almost always subjected to some form of restraint: they are often forbidden to leave their homes—even briefly—without official permission, to use communication devices, and sometimes even to speak with family members.
Suspended sentences are the most common form of punishment for Jehovah's Witnesses—since 2017, 331 believers have received such sentences. This type of verdict always includes a probation period ranging from six months to five years, during which the individual must "prove their reform" through exemplary behavior. If law enforcement decides that the believer has committed any serious violations, the court can easily replace the suspended sentence with actual imprisonment.
Such restrictions inevitably affect the families of those being persecuted. Aleksey and Yuliya Pasynkov were both given suspended sentences in 2025. They are raising a son with a severe disability. "Even before the prosecution began, we had planned trips to doctors in Moscow and St. Petersburg — all of that has been postponed for several years now. We can no longer make progress in his treatment as we hoped," Aleksey said before his wife's verdict was announced.
Both parents have been added to the so-called list of terrorists and extremists maintained by Rosfinmonitoring. At various times, this list has included the names of 741 Jehovah's Witnesses, and 570 remain on it today. For those on the list, even simple everyday tasks become significantly harder. People in poor health and the elderly are especially vulnerable — they may face difficulties paying for medical services or receiving social assistance.
"To collect my salary, I have to go to the bank twice a month. Sometimes I have to endure humiliation, explaining to the staff that I'm not an extremist," shared Maksim Beltikov, a father of three. He served two years in a penal colony but still feels the consequences of unjust persecution.
"He Will Be Deported... What Happens to Family, Though?"
A new trend that has been gaining momentum over the past year is the revocation of citizenship for Jehovah's Witnesses under prosecution. The algorithm is simple: if a convicted believer's citizenship had been acquired, it is simply annulled shortly after the verdict takes effect. At least 12 people have faced this situation.
What does this mean in practice for believers and their families? Some risk renewed religious discrimination in their country of birth; others face indefinite separation from loved ones; some may even become stateless due to bureaucratic hurdles.
Rustam Diarov is one of the Jehovah's Witnesses whose citizenship was revoked. Upon his future release he faces deportation, where — still unknown. Rustam's wife and elderly mother are Russian citizens. His wife is disabled and depends on state-provided medication.
A similar decision was made regarding Mikhail Moish's citizenship. He has been in custody since October 2021. Mikhail has two children; the younger was only a few months old when he was arrested. Since then, he has barely seen his sons. A deportation order could prolong this separation even further. Here's how Moish's lawyer described the social dilemma:
"One of his children was born here and is a Russian citizen. Now, it turns out Moish will be deported... What happens to family, though? Do they have to leave too? And where, if one child is almost finished with school here and the other is still very young and a citizen by birth?"
"These are just a few examples of the human drama hidden behind dry statistics," says Yaroslav Sivulsky. "History and today's persecution prove only one thing: Jehovah's Witnesses are being targeted without cause. But repression has not broken their convictions. So, we can be sure that, as the Bible says, 'for those who fear the true God, everything will turn out well in the end.'"
