Pensioner From Mednogorskiy Received Suspended Term. Earlier, Her Daughter, Also One of Jehovah's Witnesses, Was Convicted

"I am not guilty of committing a socially dangerous act, but of remaining a believer," said Mariya Ogoreva, 64. On December 29, 2025, the judge of the Karachay District Court of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic, Melek Bayramkulova, sentenced her to 2 years suspended.

Mariya is a widow. She and her husband were married for 38 years and raised three children. For many years she worked as a nanny in a kindergarten. In 2023--2024, with a difference of six months, criminal cases were initiated against Mariya and her daughter Svetlana, based on suspicions of participation in the activities of an extremist organization. Before that, several searches took place in their house—first as witnesses in the Pasynkov case, and then as suspects. During one of them, Mariya needed the help of doctors.

Hearings on the believer's case were held 80 kilometers from her home, as two judges from the local district court recused themselves. Friends supported Mariya: they came to meetings, helped around the house, and called to encourage her. Maria noted: "In this ordeal, we are not alone; we are surrounded by love."

On October 1, 2025, the court sentenced Svetlana to 3 years suspended sentence. The basis for the criminal prosecution of the Ogorevs was their religious beliefs and participation in peaceful meetings for worship. In court, Mariya emphasized that in her case there is "not a single statement of an extremist nature, not a single call to hatred and enmity, not a single quote from literature that would be recognized as extremist."

The Ogorevs and Pasynkovs are prosecuted according to a similar scheme: first, one family member becomes a suspect, and then his relatives.