“What, then, is the crime? Humanity?” Verdict Announced for Three Women—Jehovah’s Witnesses from Shakhunya

On January 30, 2026, at the Shakhunya Interdistrict Court of the Nizhny Novgorod Region, Nina Smirnova, Larisa Serdtseva, and Zhanna Zhavoronkova heard the verdict in their case. Judge Artemiy Lunegov handed the believers a suspended sentence of 2 years and 6 months "for participation in the activities of an extremist organization."

75-year-old Nina Smirnova is a retired accountant. Her husband does not share her religious beliefs. "He is a hardly disabled person; he also has atherosclerosis of the lower extremities, and it is very difficult for him to walk. Nevertheless, he attended every court hearing to support me," the believer said about her family circumstances. Larisa Serdtseva, 50, is a seamstress who worked for a cleaning company before the prosecution began. She and her husband have three daughters, two of whom are still in school. Zhanna Zhavoronkova, 43, worked most of her life in the railway sector.

The local branch of the Ministry of Internal Affairs opened the case against the residents of Shakhunya in February 2024. "We endured a search and, since then, have repeatedly faced emotional pressure from some law-enforcement officers," Zhanna recalled. "It did not pass without a trace for my health—in November I suffered a stroke." She was charged right in the hospital. Zhanna also lost her job due to a smear campaign in the media amid the criminal prosecution: "Although my body was weak after the stroke, I was forced to take a new job. This sharply complicated life for me and my loved ones, since I could not properly care for my bedridden father."

The case materials included testimony from two women, Yamorozova and Nepomnyashchikh. Investigators deemed conversations with them to be evidence of a crime. One of them died before trial. The defense asked that her testimony be excluded, pointing to contradictions that could not be resolved without an in-person examination, but the court refused. The believers emphasized that only the Bible was discussed in conversations with these women. "Is it my guilt that [Yamorozova] urged me to talk with her on subjects that interested her? ... And I, feeling compassion for her difficult life circumstances, sometimes visited her. What, then, is the crime? Humanity?" Larisa asked rhetorically in her final statement.

"Who was recruited, and into what, in the end?" Serdtseva wondered, commenting on the accusation. "The witnesses who testified against me lived in their own faith before meeting me, and they continued in it afterward."

Since 2017, in Russia, 226 women—Jehovah's Witnesses—have faced criminal prosecution for their faith; 89 of them are over 60.