Searches and Torture in Dimitrovgrad — Elderly Believer Hospitalized

A series of violent home searches took place on February 3, 2026, in Dimitrovgrad, Ulyanovsk Region. Law enforcement officers used brutal force against members of at least three families. Igor Popov, 60, was beaten and tortured with electric shocks, resulting in his hospitalization. He and Igor Balashov, 59, remain under house arrest, while one couple, Aleksandr and Irina Yelizarovs, has been placed in a pretrial detention center.

Officers broke into the Popov home early in the morning. When Igor's wife, Zhanna, opened the door, she was thrown to the floor by a masked officer. As a result, the fifty-seven-year-old believer injured her knee. "That day it was minus twenty-five outside, so the entryway was very cold. I was wearing only a nightgown. They pinned me to the floor. I was shaking from shock and the cold. I didn't understand who these people were or what they wanted," she said.

During the search, one masked officer, demanding a computer password, took Igor Popov into the cold entryway, threw him to the floor, and struck his back while forcefully twisting his neck. After the search, Popov was taken to the FSB office in Dimitrovgrad. With hands cuffed behind his back, he was beaten again stripped and repeatedly subjected to electric shocks throughout his body. All of this was done to try to force him to sign an agreement to cooperate and a pre-prepared "witness-statement" against himself.

Popov's body showed extensive bruising, swelling, and other injuries. On February 5, the court placed him under house arrest, but the next day he was hospitalized because of his injuries. A complaint about the torture has been filed with law enforcement agencies.

Igor Balashov was also forced to sign pre-prepared "testimony." The search of his home began at 6:00 a.m. Around noon, he was taken to the FSB office in Ulyanovsk for questioning. For about twenty hours he was not allowed to drink, eat, or take prescribed medication for his chronic illnesses. As a result, when the interrogation began at around midnight, his blood pressure had risen sharply, half his face was numb, and he was shaking.

Another search took place at one young couple's home. Both of them were thrown to the floor and handcuffed. After two hours, the woman was permitted to get up and sit on the bed, still handcuffed. Her husband was taken to another room, where force was used against him, and he was insulted for refusing to unlock his phone. He was not allowed to get dressed for an hour and a half although an external door was opened frequently and it was very cold outside.

Six Jehovah's Witnesses from Ulyanovsk Region have previously received suspended sentences for their peaceful faith.