Court in Murmansk Lightened Sentence for 68-Year-Old Anatoliy Odintsov — Believer Released

On August 5, 2026, the Murmansk Regional Court amended the sentence of one of Jehovah's Witnesses, Anatoliy Odintsov: 6 years and 3 months of imprisonment were changed to a suspended sentence. On the same day, he was released from the pretrial detention center, where he was due to remain until the verdict of the court of first instance entered into force.

"Persecution is a kind of exam, a test of faith," said Anatoliy.

Anatoliy Odintsov is a medical equipment engineer with many years of experience. He became one of Jehovah's Witnesses back in 1994, and had had no problems with the law. However, in 2023 a criminal case was initiated against him: the Investigative Committee classed discussions of the Bible among fellow believers as organizing the activity of an extremist organization. About 3 years later, the Polyarny District Court of Murmansk sentenced him to a lengthy term in a penal colony — and Odintsov was taken into custody immediately. This came as a surprise even to the prosecution, which had requested a fine. Considering the punishment excessively harsh, the prosecutor appealed the verdict.

Anatoliy spent more than 7 months behind bars and about 9 months under house arrest.

The first week in detention was the most difficult: "Probably the hardest thing is the beginning, when some sort of vacuum forms due to the lack of information, and you have absolutely no idea what is happening outside."

Contact with loved ones during this period was hard. "I could communicate only through letters. Visits and phone calls were restricted," Anatoliy said, adding: "Friends wrote letters, they streamed in from different countries, from different continents. All this brought joy and left no place for sadness."