Raids Against Jehovah’s Witnesses in Southern Siberia: Elderly Believer Detained
Altai TerritoryOn February 11, 2026, at least eight searches were conducted at the homes of local Jehovah's Witnesses in several areas of the Altai Territory — the city of Novoaltaysk, the villages of Talmenka and Sannikovo. Sergey Petrov, 63, was taken into custody.
The investigative actions were carried out by officers of the Investigative Committee and the FSB. They seized copies of the Bible, other books — such as The People Who Are Never Without Their Bibles by religious scholar Sergei Ivanenko — as well as electronic storage devices. After the searches, the believers were interrogated.
Prosecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in the southern regions of Siberia has been intensifying — in just the last 6 months, at least 15 people have become defendants in criminal cases, the overwhelming majority of whom are under arrest.
