Two 74-year-old JW sentenced to three years in prison and immediately detained. Nowadays, 175 JWs are behind bars in Russia
On 12 November, a Russian court imprisoned two 74-year-old men—Valeriy Knyazev and Indus Talipov—the two oldest of the 175 Jehovah’s Witnesses currently behind bars in Russia and Crimea.
Valeriy and Indus were sentenced to three years in prison and immediately taken into custody.
There are now 19 elderly Witnesses (18 male; 1 female) over the age of 65 in Russia.
“It’s patently absurd that Russian judges would imprison peace-loving elderly Christians like Valeriy and Indus,” said Jarrod Lopes, spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses. “These two harmless men—who simply enjoy reading the Bible and singing Christian songs with friends—were convicted on the basis of secret, remote testimony from an individual known only by the pseudonym Lozhkin.”
“Lozhkin is part of a growing FSB network of undercover agents used to identify and prosecute Jehovah’s Witnesses. Often these spies feign interest in studying the Bible, attend worship discussions for months or even years, secretly record conversations, and then provide deceptive testimony to secure convictions.”
Why spies?
Authorities have at times resorted to beating or torturing Jehovah’s Witnesses to pressure them to reveal the names of their fellow worshippers. Such cases of abuse are relatively rare (less than 10% of the nearly 900 Witnesses targeted for prosecution), because authorities have consistently seen that Jehovah’s Witnesses will refuse to betray their spiritual brothers no matter the consequences.
Thus, spies are the FSB’s most effective means of identifying Jehovah’s Witnesses for potential prosecution. At least 30 documented prosecutions have relied on the false testimonies of spies.
One secret agent in Vladivostok, Ekaterina Petrova, infiltrated a group of 17 Jehovah’s Witnesses, which included elderly ones. Her testimony led to prison sentences of up to 8 years.
Another secret agent with the pseudonym Gromov was used in the case of Viktor Ursu in Crimea. He was sentenced to six years in prison on September 8, 2025. During his trial, the court listened to audio recordings (captured by Gromov) of two religious meetings that discussed how to show and the benefits of kindness. See link for further details.
About the case of Valeriy and Indus | Timeline
- June 4, 2024. Security forces raided their homes
- August 19, 2024. Judge I.A. Semenova of the Industrial District Court of Izhevsk satisfied the investigator’s petition to seize their bank accounts and property
- December 27, 2024. Criminal trial began
- November 12, 2025. Both sentenced to three years in prison and immediately taken into custody. Valeriy’s wife, Galina, is left to fend for herself. They have been married over 50 years
European Court of Human Rights
On June 7, 2022, the Court declared Russia’s ban on Jehovah’s Witnesses to be unlawful and concluded that the beliefs and practices of Jehovah’s Witnesses are legal and protected by the rights to freedom of religion, expression, and association. Russia was ordered to return all confiscated properties or to pay EUR 59,617,458 (USD 63 ,684 ,978) in pecuniary damages. (Link to judgment summary).
- The judgment strongly criticized the Russian authorities and established that they were prejudiced, showed bias, and “had not acted in good faith.” (§ 187)
- “[T]he forced dissolution of all religious organisations of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia was not merely the result of a neutral application of legal provisions but disclosed indications of a policy of intolerance by the Russian authorities towards the religious practices of Jehovah’s Witnesses designed to cause Jehovah’s Witnesses to abandon their faith and to prevent others from joining it.” (§ 254)
See this link to several more cases of Jehovah’s Witnesses in prison in Russia.
Source: JW World Headquarters
