Actions of Law Enforcement Officers

Five More Jehovah’s Witnesses from Uyar Detained

Krasnoyarsk Territory

On Monday, February 3, 2026, law enforcement officers detained Uyar residents Sergey Soroka, Ivan Starikov, and Aleksandr Murlin. They were placed in a pretrial detention center 2 days later. On Thursday, two more believers — Aleksandr and Zakhar Vakarev, father and son — were detained at Vnukovo Airport in Moscow. The FSB had declared them wanted the day before.

Cases involving Jehovah's Witnesses in Uyar are being handled by Aleksandra Tkachenko, an investigator with the local branch of the Investigative Committee for the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Republic of Khakassia. A few months earlier, she had authorized the arrests of two other Uyar residents — Viktor Kononov and Aflatun Safarov.

The Case of Kononov and Others in Uyar

Case History
In October 2025, investigators from the Russian Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against two residents of the town of Uyar, Viktor Kononov and Aflatun Safarov. Their homes were searched, after which a court ordered that the elderly men be taken into custody. In February 2026, another man, Ivan Starikov, was placed in a pre-trial detention center but was soon transferred to house arrest. The investigation interpreted the holding of peaceful worship services as organizing the activities of an extremist organization and participating in it.
Timeline

Persons in case

Vakarev
Aleksandr
Vakarev
Zakhar
Starikov
Ivan
Kononov
Viktor
Safarov
Aflatun

Criminal case

Region:
Krasnoyarsk Territory
Locality:
Uyar
Suspected of:
"Organized and ensured the arrangement of the meeting... conducted educational debates based on the studied materials" (from the decision to initiate criminal case)
Court case number:
12502040043000057
Initiated:
October 23, 2025
Current case stage:
preliminary investigation
Investigating:
Uyarskiy Interdistrict Investigative Department of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Republic of Khakassia
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (2), 282.2 (1)
Case History
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