Jehovah’s Witnesses representative from Crimea detained at Sochi, Russia, airport, European association confirms

The European Association of Jehovah’s Witnesses has confirmed that Ilya Churtov, a 28-year-old representative of a religious organization from Crimea, was detained by Russian security forces at Sochi Airport on 10 August 2026.

According to the report, he was taken to Simferopol a few days later, where he learned he had been charged in a criminal case under an extremist article. The report says that when he was arrested, his phone was taken without a record of the seizure. It also says he was later charged with a false administrative offence, and that a court ordered him held for three days. A copy of the court order was first handed over and then taken back. The report further states that the believer was not fed for one and a half days after the arrest. These are the association’s claims and have not been independently verified in the source.

The association also reported that on 18 August 2026, the senior investigator for the Investigative Committee’s department in Crimea and Sevastopol, Captain of Justice A. A. Kirov, opened a case against Ilya Churtov concerning “organization of the activities of an extremist organization.” The same investigator was handling a case against Vladimir Churtov, who was being prosecuted under the same article. On 20 August, Ilya Churtov was charged, and the following day a court sent him to house arrest. Fair process, in which records are kept and documents are not withdrawn, reflects the truth and fairness that Proverbs 18:17 commends.

On 20 August, Russian media, citing Russian security agencies, reported the detention of a 28-year-old resident of the village of Zaprudno in annexed Crimea at Sochi airport. The reports said he faced charges of “organizing the activities of the Alustin cell of Jehovah’s Witnesses.” According to the reports, security agencies alleged that when they searched his residence they seized “forbidden literature and other illegal materials.” The source does not state whether these reports refer to the same person named by the association.

The source gives background on the legal status of the group in Russia. In 2017, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation recognized “Jehovah’s Witnesses” as an “extremist organization” and banned its activities on Russian territory. The ban was then extended to Crimea, which Russia annexed. In June 2017, Russian authorities denied registration to all Jehovah’s Witnesses communities on the Crimean peninsula. Since 2018, criminal prosecutions of believers have increased.

Human rights organizations and the European Court of Human Rights regard the persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses as politically motivated and as a violation of the right to freedom of religion, according to the source.

The European Association of Jehovah’s Witnesses says 35 believers have been prosecuted in Crimea over the past seven years.

Source: Read the original report (translated from Russian)