A Family of Believers From Crimea Has Been Subjected to Religious Repression for the Third Time. Viktor Ursu, 58, Was Placed Under House Arrest After 2 Weeks Behind Bars

On July 28, 2023, law enforcement officers invaded the home of a family of believers in the town of  Dzhankoy. Viktor Ursu, 58, was detained. On August 9, after 2 weeks in a detention center, the Dzhankoy District Court decided to place him under house arrest.

Viktor's elderly parents live with him. Aleksandr Ursu, 83, who had been exonerated as a victim of Soviet repression, was mistreated during a raid on Jehovah's Witnesses in 2018.

The "inspection of the premises" (in fact, a search), which was carried out by 11 law enforcement officers in masks and with weapons, began at 6 a.m. Viktor and his wife were not allowed to get dressed for some time. The law enforcement officers refused to show their identity cards and seized all electronic devices and storage media.

Viktor Ursu was detained and taken to a temporary detention facility in Dzhankoy. His wife was not allowed to see him or provide him with necessary things like food and medicines.

Immediately after the completion of the operational actions, friends and acquaintances came to support the family. They helped tidy the house after the search, brought food, and provided emotional support to their fellow believers.

On August 7, Viktor Ursu was released from the temporary detention facility, but then was immediately detained again. He was taken to the local Department of the Investigative Committee, and then back to the temporary detention facility. On the same day, the investigator issued a decision to initiate a criminal case against Viktor Ursu under Article 282.2(1) of RF CrC.

In the 1940s, Aleksandr Ursu's father, uncle, and grandfather were exiled to labor camps because they were Jehovah's Witnesses. In 1947 only his father returned from exile, and with a serious injury. In July 1949, the Ursu family, including 9-year-old Aleksandr, were loaded into cattle cars and along with thousands of other believers sent to permanent exile in Siberia.

Later, Aleksandr Ursu was repeatedly subjected to various forms of pressure from the state security agencies, including searches. On May 21, 1991, the believer was rehabilitated in accordance with the decree "On additional measures to restore justice for the victims of repressions that took place in the 1930's and 1940's, and into the early 1950's".

Rehabilitation certificate No. 23 was issued to Aleksandr Ursu on June 17, 1991. Then in November 2018, when the believer was already 78, law enforcement officers again broke into his house, pressed him against the wall, and handcuffed him. At the time searches in the homes of other local believers were carried out as part of the criminal case against Sergey Filatov, who was later sentenced to 6 years and is now serving time for his faith in a penal colony.