Two Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russian-occupied Crimea sentenced to 6 years for studying the Bible online.
The alleged proof that Viktor Kudinov and Serhiy Zhyhalov had ‘organized the activities of an extremist organization' was that they had thanked people for their responses to questions concerning their faith.
An occupation ‘court’ in Sevastopol has sentenced Ukrainian Jehovah’s Witnesses Viktor Kurdinov (b. 1969) and Serhiy Zhyhalov (b. 1971) to six years’ imprisonment for peacefully practising their faith. Over 160 fellow believers came to the ‘court’ on 15 January to demonstrate their solidarity despite knowing that they could become the next victims of Russia’s brazen religious persecution.
Arrests of Jehovah’s Witnesses in occupied Crimea began in November 2018, just over a year after Russia’s subservient Supreme court issued its infamous ruling, outlawing a world faith by claiming it to be ‘extremist’.
The sentences were handed down on 14 January 2025 by ‘judge’ Serhiy Korotun from the occupation ‘Gagarin district court’ and were only very slightly less than those demanded by the Russian prosecutor. Both men were taken into custody in the ‘courtroom’ although the sentences have not come into force and will certainly be appealed
The two believers were charged with ‘organizing the activities of an extremist organization’ under Article 282.2 § 1 of Russia’s criminal code. The prosecution claimed. and ‘judge’ Serhiy Korotun was willing to accept that meetings where believers consider Biblical passages, take part in prayer and sing together constitutes ‘the activities of an extremist organization’ Essentially any participant in such a meeting can be accused of the lesser charge of ‘participation in the activities of an extremist organization’, under Article 282.2 § 2. That, however, even in occupied Crimea, can result in suspended sentence, and the FSB prefer to label their victims ‘organizers’ with this much more likely to result in a real term of imprisonment. The prosecutor asserted that ‘proof’ of Kurdinov and Zhyhalov’s ‘organizer’ role lay in the fact that the two men had given other participants tasks, invited them to answer and had also thanked them for their responses.
Kurdinov and Zhyhalov were detained after armed searches in Sevastopol in August 2022. Both men were initially placed under house arrest, but then released, however prohibited from certain activities. The prosecution, initiated by ‘senior investigator M.Ye. Ukrainsky, was based on the ‘testimony’ of a secret witness. There is never any justification for such secrecy, which normally means that the defence cannot verify the supposed testimony. Here, in fact, the JW report gives not only the individual’s pseudonym ‘Ivanova’, but also the name Nadezhda Dykman.
There was another prosecution witness – S.B. Korkushko, whom Zhyhalov says he has never met. He adds that this individual has, over the past five years, given ‘testimony’ in many prosecutions of Crimean Jehovah’s Witnesses.
The defence also pointed to clear violations in the supposed religious expert assessment which quoted sources which were not scholarly and which expressed a negative view of Jehovah’s Witnesses that went beyond the supposed ‘expert’s’ remit and competence.
Russia illegally uses ‘secret witnesses’ and highly suspect ‘expert assessments’ in most cases of political and / or religious persecution in occupied Crimea. In the case of Jehovah’s Witnesses, such practice is totally cynical as those accused in such prosecutions have never denied their faith and will openly express this faith, whether or not the person is genuinely searching or is effectively a front and means of ensuring the imprisonment of peaceful believers.
Other prosecutions of Crimean Jehovah’s Witnesses
The following refers only to criminal charges, however harassment and administrative prosecutions began much earlier.
The first arrest was of Serhiy Filatov (b. 1972) after armed raids in Dzhankoi during the night from 15-16 November 2018. He too was accused of ‘organizing the activities of an extremist organization’ under Article 282.2 § 1 with the ‘prosecutor claiming that the Jehovah’s Witness had “undermined the foundations of the constitutional order and the security of the state”, by, purportedly, being the leader of a religious organization. On 5 March 2020, he was sentenced by ‘judge’ Maria Yermakova from the occupation ‘Dzhankoi district court’ to six years’ imprisonment in a medium security prison colony, with this upheld by Edward Belousov from the ‘Crimean high court’ on 26 May 2020.
Artem Gerasimov (b. 1985) from Yalta was arrested during a second wave of armed raids on 20 March 2019. He too is serving a six-year sentence, imposed at appeal level after the first instance ‘court’, also on 5 March 2020, imposed ‘only’ a massive fine. It is possible that Moscow was still watching international reaction to such shocking religious persecution on occupied Ukrainian territory and preferred not to have two long sentences passed on one day.
Viktor Stashevsky (b. 1966) was sentenced by ‘judge’ Pavel Krylo from the occupation ‘Gagarin district court’ on 23 March 2021 to six and a half years’ imprisonment on the same ‘organizing extremist activities’ (Article 282.2 § 1 ) charge, and taken into custody in the courtroom. The sentence was upheld on 10 August 2021 by ‘judge’ Vladimir Avkhimov from the ‘Sevastopol municipal court’. In 2024, Stashevsky became the first Jehovah’s Witness from Russia or occupied Ukraine to have his sentence escalated, with a ‘court’ in Russia sending him to a prison, the worst of Russia’s penal institutions for part of the sentence.
Igor Schmidt (b. 1972) was sentenced by ‘judge’ Liudmyla Tumaikina from the same ‘Gagarin district court’ to six years, with this upheld on 17 January 2022.
Artem Shabliy (b. 1990) was initially arrested on 26 May 2020 after armed men burst into his home and caused injuries to one of his two small children by quite unnecessarily breaking a window during the raid. He was, at least, charged with ‘participation in an extremist organization’ (under Article 282.2 § 2) and was, on 16 February 2022, given a two-year suspended sentence by ‘judge’ Iryna Altanets from the ‘Kerch municipal court’.
Volodymr Maladyka (b. 1963), Volodymyr Sakada (b. 1970) and Yevhen Zhukov (b. 1969) were sentenced on 6 October 2022 by ‘judge’ Olga Berdnikova from the ‘Nakhimovsky district court’ in Sevastopol to six years’ imprisonment with this upheld by Gennadiy Vladimirovich Nikitin and two other ‘judges’ from the occupation ‘Sevastopol municipal court’ on 11 October 2023.
Oleksandr Dubovenko (b. 1973) and Oleksandr Lytvyniak (b. 1960) were sentenced on 1 December 2022 to six years’ imprisonment, with this demanded by demanded by prosecutor Minigul Saldykova and passed by ‘judge’ Tatiana Fedeneva from the ‘Armiansk municipal court’. The main ‘evidence’ against them was a Zoom conversation about the Bible, with this claimed to constitute ‘‘organizing the activities of an extremist organization’ (Article 282.2 § 1). Both men had been held under house arrest for over a year, and were taken into custody after the 6-year sentence,
There have been a few surprises, such as with respect to long sentences passed against Taras and Daria Kuzio, Serhiy Liulin and Petro Zhiltsov by ‘judge’ Vladimir Romanenko from the ‘Yalta municipal court’ on 27 February 2023. The sentences were overturned on 21 March 2024 by the ‘Crimean high court’, although this does not necessarily mean an end to persecution as the ‘case’ was sent back for retrial. The ‘court’ did, however, order the release from imprisonment of Taras Kuzio (b. 1978); Petro Zhiltsov (b. 1987) and Serhiy Liulin (b. 1984) with Daria Kuzio (b. 1982) having received a suspended sentence. Worth pointing out here, since Taras and Daria Kuzio have two small children, that a suspended sentence can become ‘real’ should a person be deemed to have ‘re-offended’. If believers are imprisoned for studying the Bible and religious worship, the occupation regime can decide at any moment that their continued faith constitutes ‘reoffending’.
Yury Herashchenko and Serhiy Parfenovych were also accused of ‘organizing the activities of an extremist organization’ but received suspended 6-year sentences from the occupation ‘Krasnohardiiske municipal court’ on 1 July 2024.
Maksym Zinchenko was found ‘guilty’ of participation in what Russia has called an ‘extremist organization’ for practising his faith. The sentence passed by ‘judge’ Valery Kuznetsov from the occupation ‘Nakhimovsky district court’ in Sevastopol was significantly lower than that demanded by the prosecutor and it is not clear whether it was challenged. On 17 April 2024, Kuznetsov sentenced Zinchenko to two years’ imprisonment, however he then applied a norm on making a sentence more lenient, and instead of imprisonment, ordered two years of compulsory labour, as well as restrictions on certain activities.
Tadevos Manukian (b. 1981) was initially charged (with ‘organizing a so-called extremist organization’ under Article 282.2 § 1 together with Taras Kuzio and the others. His prosecution was, however, made into a separate ‘case’.
Dmytro Naukhatsky (b. 1969) has been under house arrest since December 2022, when he was arrested after the FSB carried out mass armed raids of at least 16 homes of believers in Simferopol. He was initially charged with ‘organizing the activities of a so-called extremist organization’ (under Article 282.2 § 1), however on 24 March 2023, the same ‘investigator’, V.A. Novikov added a charge of ‘financing the activities of an extremist organization’ (Article 282.3 § 1).
Oleksandr Voronchykhin (b. 1963) appears to be facing ‘trial’ together with Yekaterina Demidova (b. 1956); Oleksandr Kotylets (b. 1977) and Dmytro Zakharevych (b. 1995). All three men are charged with the more serious ‘organizing the activities of a so-called extremist organization’ (under Article 282.2 § 1) while Demidova is accused of ‘participation’.