Name: Malchugova Amaliya Aleksandrovna
Date of Birth: February 1, 1948
Current status: defendant
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (1.1), 282.2 (2)
Current restrictions: recognizance agreement

Biography

Amaliya Malchugova was 77 years old when, in October 2025, law enforcement officers broke into her home, smashing a window. This elderly, disabled woman was charged with extremism for remaining true to her beliefs as one of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Amaliya was born in February 1948 in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Her parents faced repression based on their ethnicity and were exiled from the Volga German Republic in 1941. Her father spent 7 years in the uranium mines of the Urals under the labor army (a system of forced labor mobilization in the USSR used during World War II). Amaliya grew up in a large family of seven children, where she was the third child.

For many years, Amaliya worked as a nurse in physiotherapy. In 1999, she retired on a seniority pension.

Amaliya learned about the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses in 1991. Five years later, she was baptized.

Amaliya was widowed in 2018. Her husband shared her religious beliefs. He was a director and, together with friends, often organised Bible dramas.

Amaliya suffers from several serious illnesses, including hypertension, diabetes, and osteoporosis. Because her bank card was blocked, she was left without means of subsistence for almost 2 months. Neighbors are worried about the believer.

Case History

In October 2025, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation initiated a criminal case against residents of the Uyarskiy and Rybinskiy districts of Krasnoyarsk Territory. The investigation interpreted peaceful meetings for worship as organizing the activity of an extremist organization, participating in it, and involving others in it. Searches were conducted in the homes of the believers. Viktor Kononov and Aflatun Safarov were placed in custody; two elderly women—Amaliya Malchugova and Tatyana Barakhtenko—were required to sign a recognizance agreement. In February 2026, Sergey Soroka, Aleksandr Murlin, and Ivan Starikov were placed in a pretrial detention center. On the same day, Aleksandr and Zakhar Vakarev were detained at a Moscow airport and subsequently required to sign a recognizance agreement. All the believers held in custody were later transferred to house arrest, and then to a ban on certain actions.
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