Actions of Law Enforcement Officers

Series of Searches in the Jewish Autonomous Region. Criminal Case Initiated Against a Believer

Jewish Autonomous Area

On June 14, 2026, officers of the Investigative Committee and the FSB carried out investigative actions at five addresses in the villages of Leninskoye and Babstovo, near the Chinese border.

Law enforcement officers arrived at the home of Galina Medvedeva, 61, around 6:00 a.m. She was taken for interrogation to Birobidzhan, 100 kilometers away, and returned home only at 9:00 p.m. A criminal case against Galina was initiated on June 10, 2026.

Personal notes, computer equipment, and means of communication were seized from the believers.

Since 2018, in the Jewish Autonomous Region, 28 criminal cases have been initiated against 17 women and 15 men who practice the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. The FSB Directorate has already initiated a second case against one of them, Oleg Postnikov, on charges of organizing the activity of an extremist organization.

The Medvedeva Case in Birobidzhan

Case History
In June 2026, a criminal case was opened against Galina Medvedeva, a resident of the village of Babstovo. The investigation found that by participating in online conferences to study the religious literature of Jehovah’s Witnesses, she was acting as part of an organization recognized as “extremist” in Russia. Investigators conducted searches in several houses in the Leninskiy District of the Jewish Autonomous Region; personal notes, equipment and communication equipment were confiscated from Galina and other believers.
Timeline

Persons in case

Medvedeva
Galina

Criminal case

Region:
Jewish Autonomous Area
Locality:
Birobidzhan
Suspected of:
"took part in conducting general events of a religious nature (conversations through online conferences, the purpose of which is to study the literature that forms the basis of the doctrine of the organization of Jehovah's Witnesses, thereby participating in the activities of this extremist organization" (from the decision to initiate a criminal case)
Court case number:
12602990007000028
Initiated:
June 10, 2026
Current case stage:
preliminary investigation
Investigating:
Birobidzhan Interdistrict Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Khabarovsk Territory and the Jewish Autonomous Region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (2)
Case History
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