Case of Ivashina in Simferopol

Case History

In late November 2025, the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against Crimea resident Yelena Ivashina. The case had been separated into an independent proceeding from the case of another Jehovah's Witness, Aleksandr Voronchikhin. In December, searches were conducted in Yelena's apartment, after which she was interrogated and placed in a temporary detention facility (IVS). The believer was accused of financing the activities of an extremist organization. The court placed her under house arrest.
Timeline

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    Case initiated Art. 282.3 (1) CC RF

    Senior investigator of the Investigation Department of the Main Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee for the Republic of Crimea V. V. Zabiyaka opened a criminal case against Elena Ivashina, accusing her of financing the activities of an extremist organization.

    The investigator claims that the believer "transferred money as donations."

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    Temporary detention facility Search Interrogation

    Early in the morning, a search is carried out in the apartment of Elena Ivashina in the village. Novofedorovka. Electronic devices, bank cards and hard drive are seized from her.

    Investigator A. A. Kirov interrogates Ivashina about her religious beliefs. The woman uses Article 51 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, which gives the right not to testify against herself and her relatives.

    After the interrogation, the believer is placed in a temporary detention facility.

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    House arrest

    The court of the Kievskiy District Court of Simferopol chooses a restriction measure for Yelena in the form of house arrest.

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    Case went to court

    The criminal case is submitted to the Zheleznodorozhny District Court of Simferopol.

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    Hearing in a court of the first instance Expert studies with violations

    Judge Irina Lipovskaya is interrogating religious scholar Olga Griva. The expert determines Yelena Ivashina’s involvement in the activity of an extremist organization exclusively based on the testimony of a single witness and the fact that funds were transferred.

    The defense requests that the expert study be declared inadmissible evidence. The lawyer notes that in 2024 the expert publicly referred to Jehovah’s Witnesses as “a dangerous sect,” which calls the expert’s impartiality into question.

    “For almost 3.5 years in court I have been expressing my personal opinion,” says Griva. “So your personal opinion is not extremism, but mine is extremism?” Yelena asks rhetorically.

    The judge repeatedly interrupts Ivashina as she attempts to question the expert, demanding that she “stick to the substance.” “If you gather [as a group of believers], you are already an organization,” asserts Judge Lipovskaya. When Yelena asks how, then, one should practice one’s faith, she answers: “At home, by candlelight.”

    The defense requests that a new expert study be assigned at the Russian Federal Center for Forensic Expertise under the Ministry of Justice of Russia.

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