The aggressive opposition of the Russian authorities to Jehovah’s Witnesses has now spilled over into Crimea. In Russia, the government has not only banned the Witnesses’ legal entities but has clearly shown its intent to wipe out their peaceful worship. Since the April 2017 ban, Russian authorities have conducted numerous raids on Witness gatherings throughout Russia, resulting in the arrest and imprisonment of scores of Witnesses. The same heavy-handed tactics are now being used against Jehovah’s Witnesses in Crimea.

The first mass raid in Crimea took place on November 15, 2018, in Dzhankoy, when approximately 200 police and special forces officers raided eight private homes in which small groups of Witnesses were meeting together to read and discuss the Bible. At least 35 armed and masked officers forcibly entered the home of Sergey Filatov, where a group of six Witnesses were gathered. The Witnesses were terrorized by this aggressive action. The intruders pinned a 78-year-old man against the wall, forced him to the ground, handcuffed him, and beat him so badly that he was rushed to the hospital. Two other older men were so traumatized that they were rushed to the hospital with extremely high blood pressure. Tragically, a young woman whose house was also raided suffered a miscarriage.

Following the raid, Sergey was criminally charged under Article 282.2(1) of the Russian Criminal Code with organizing the activity of an “extremist organization.” On March 5, 2020, the district court in Crimea sentenced Sergey to six years in a general regime prison colony. After the sentencing, he was immediately escorted to prison.

In the years following the 2018 raid in Dzhankoy, special forces officers continue to forcibly enter the homes of Witnesses who are suspected of extremist activity. The most recent raid occurred on August 7, 2024, when several armed and masked law enforcement officers searched the homes of five Witnesses, including the home of 68-year-old Tamara Brattseva in the village of Razdolnoye. Tamara, charged with organizing the activities of an extremist organization, is currently on trial. In October 2024, two Witness men, Yuriy Gerashchenko and Sergey Parfenovich, were each sentenced to six years in a penal colony. They had previously been given suspended sentences, but the prosecutor pushed for a harsher punishment, which was granted by the court. They were immediately arrested in the courtroom and transferred to prison.

As a result of home raids and subsequent criminal trials and convictions, there are currently 14 Witness men in prison serving sentences up to six and a half years. All have been charged with promoting the activities of an extremist organization.

Time Line

1. June 17, 2025

   Fourteen of Jehovah’s Witnesses from Crimea currently imprisoned.

2. October 3, 2024

   Yuriy Gerashchenko and Sergey Parfenovich sentenced to six years in a penal colony.

3. August 7, 2024

   Law enforcement officers raid five Witness homes in Alushta, Razdolnoye, and Senokosnoye. Criminal case initiated against Tamara Brattseva.

4. August 5, 2021

   Eight homes of Witnesses searched. Aleksandr Dubovenko and Aleksandr Litvinyuk arrested.

5. October 1, 2020

   Nine homes raided in Sevastopol. Igor Shmidt arrested and placed in pretrial detention.

6. June 4, 2019

   Special forces officers raid ten homes in Sevastopol. Viktor Stashevskiy subsequently charged with organizing extremist activities.

7. March 20, 2019

   Special forces officers raid eight homes in Alupka and Yalta. Artem Gerasimov interrogated and subsequently charged with organizing extremist activities.

8. November 15, 2018

   Eight homes raided by over 200 police and special forces officers in Dzhankoy, including Sergey Filatov’s home.