Actions of Law Enforcement Officers

Series of Raids on Jehovah's Witnesses in Ufa: Married Couple Sent to Pretrial Detention Center

Bashkortostan

On February 11, 2026, searches were carried out at nine addresses in Ufa. Law enforcement officers detained and interrogated 17 people, 2 of whom remain in custody.

Immediately after the raid, five individuals were taken to a temporary detention facility. Two days later, the court imposed a ban on certain actions on Andrey Gubeev, Sergey Bastaev and Mariya Gareeva, while sending the couple Ruslan and Roza Tazyrov to a pretrial detention center.

The searches were initiated by Major of Justice V. Kharrasov, investigator of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Republic of Bashkortostan. Earlier, on February 3, 2026, he had initiated a criminal case under Article 282.2(1) and (2) of the RF CrC.

Case of Tazyrov and Others in Ufa

Case History
In February 2026, the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against Jehovah’s Witnesses in Ufa and conducted searches at nine addresses. Spouses Ruslan and Roza Tazyrov were charged with organizing the activities of an extremist organization; Sergey Bastaev, Andrey Gubeev, Alfiya Dzhavadova, and Mariya Gareeva — with participating in its activities. The Tazyrov spouses were remanded in custody; the others were placed under a ban on certain activities. In June 2026, despite the defense’s objections, the court ordered Mariya Gareeva to undergo an inpatient psychiatric evaluation.
Timeline

Persons in case

Bastaev
Sergey
Dzhavadova
Alfiya
Gareeva
Mariya
Gubeev
Andrey
Tazyrov
Ruslan
Tazyrova
Roza

Criminal case

Region:
Bashkortostan
Locality:
Ufa
Suspected of:
"organized and held meetings in public places through videoconferencing . . . for the purpose of promoting the activities of a banned organization" (from the decision to initiate a criminal case)
Court case number:
12601800053000120
Initiated:
February 3, 2026
Current case stage:
preliminary investigation
Investigating:
Main Investigation Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Republic of Bashkortostan
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (2), 282.2 (1)
Case History
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