Biography
On July 13, 2020 law enforcement agencies of the Voronezh region conducted the most large-scale special operation against Jehovah's Witnesses. 54-year-old Igor Popov became one of the operatives actions victims. After the search he was sent to a pre-trial detention center.
Igor was born in July 1966 in Blagoveshchensk (Amur Region). The elder brother died. As a child, Igor was fond of skiing, orienteering and rafting on mountain rivers.
After graduating from a vocational school, he worked as a plaster painter and plumber-sanitary technician. Served in the army.
In 1988 he married Lucien, a couple has a daughter, Elizabeth.
In the early 2000s, Igor decided to bring his life in line with Christian values, thanks to the study of the Holy Scriptures.
Spouses like to relax in nature. Before his arrest, due to Lucien's health condition, Igor spent a lot of time caring for his wife. Her health was particularly affected by her husband's criminal prosecution.
Case History
On a single day, July 13, 2020, 110 searches were carried out in seven localities of the Voronezh region—a record-breaking operation against Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia. Five believers reported being tortured by law enforcement officers. The Investigative Committee charged ten men (aged 24 to 56 at that moment) with organizing extremist activity and sent them to pre-trial detention, where most remained for nearly five months. The events in Voronezh sparked widespread public outcry: EU countries, as well as the United Kingdom and the United States, expressed regret and bewilderment over what had happened. The believers themselves deny any guilt in extremism and emphasize that, as Christians, they respect the authorities and peacefully practice their faith in accordance with constitutional rights. The trial began in December 2021. Nearly four years later, the believers were sentenced to various punishments—ranging from six years of suspended sentence to seven years in colony.
