Following Husband’s Footsteps. Court Sentences Mother of Child with Disabilitiy for Talking on Bible Topics

Five years suspended - such sentence for Yulia Pasynkova, 34, was announced by the court on September 16, 2025. Her husband, Aleksey, is already serving a suspended sentence for his faith, and her mother-in-law, Tatyana, is in the dock. "It is unnatural when you are persecuted for believing in God," the believer said.

The Pasynkovs are raising a son with a disability. His illness is incurable. "Timofey is deprived of a normal life. He cannot say what he thinks, what he feels or what he wants," the believer told the court, "he cannot be left alone even for 5 minutes." Yulia had to travel 150 kilometers from home to meetings, which made the court proceedings even more exhausting for the whole family. She recalls: "Sometimes I had to sleep only three hours to make it by ten in the morning. When I returned, my son hugged me for hours. In the morning, he could cry for a long time, because he did not see me."

The prosecution considered that Yuliya had no mitigating circumstances and requested a long suspended term with additional restrictions. In sentencing, Nariman Abdokov, a judge of the Khabez District Court, fully supported this position.

The life of the Pasynkovs under persecution lasts almost four years. During this period, they were searched thrice. At the same time, a tragedy occurred - Yulia's parents were hit by a car. "Caring for my mother, my father's funeral, taking care of my son and other difficulties — I could not have gone through all this alone, without my husband," the believer recalls.

Aleksey and Yulia noted that the difficulties brought their family together. "We had a warm, close relationship before," Aleksey said, "but the persecution made it even closer. We spend a lot of time together, trying to console each other, strengthen each other... Especially when there is no physical or emotional strength left."

Authorities often expose several family members to repression for their faith: at least 170 of persecuted Jehovah's Witnesses have at least one relative who finds themselves in similar circumstances.