Three Years Under Strict Conditions for His Faith. Pavel Kazadaev Released

On August 14, 2026, Pavel Kazadaev, 29, one of Jehovah's Witnesses, was released from the penal colony in Rubtsovsk, Altai Territory. He was convicted for discussing the Bible with friends. The believer spent all 3 years of his imprisonment under strict conditions.

Pavel was taken into custody on the day his appeal was decided in August 2023 — then his 3-year suspended sentence was replaced with imprisonment. "I was not allowed to take any belongings with me; they took me as I was — in my suit, jacket, and tie. On the way to the pretrial detention center, they collected defendants from various courts. People saw that I had nothing with me. One gave me a towel, another — a spoon, a mug, and a container. As a result, when I arrived at the detention center, I already had everything I needed: something to eat with and something to cover myself with at night," Pavel said, recalling that day.

Upon arrival at the penal colony, the believer was placed in a punishment cell, and his stay there was repeatedly extended. Later, he was transferred to a cell-type facility. However, according to Darya, Pavel's wife, he was treated with respect: staff would greet him with a handshake and address him by name. In the correctional facility, Pavel was responsible for receiving and issuing clothing and personal belongings to other prisoners.

The strict regime significantly limited visits from loved ones. During his first year of imprisonment, the length between extended visits was 7 months. Later, the Kazadaevs were allowed to see each other once every 2 months. Darya recalls: "We wrote letters to each other every day, no matter the circumstances." His wife was not the only one to write to Pavel — hundreds of letters with words of support arrived from different countries.

Pavel coped with difficulties by keeping busy: he followed a routine, read the Bible twice a day, replied to correspondence, prayed for the people he wrote to, and tried to share encouraging thoughts with them. A year before his release, Pavel gave his wife a handmade calendar with drawings and warm thoughts. It marked how many days remained until he would return home. "Pavel asked me to write various ideas in it about how I would like us to spend time together so that after his release we could make these plans come true," Darya said.

Looking back on his years in prison, Pavel said: "I learned that when nothing is going according to plan, you need to stay calm and trust in God because He has everything under control."

The criminal case against Kazadaev was initiated in May 2021. The investigation regarded participating in meetings for worship and discussing the Bible with fellow believers as "participating in the activity of an extremist organization." In April 2023, the court of first instance gave him a 3-year suspended sentence, but in August of the same year, the court of appeal replaced the sentence with imprisonment.