Five Minutes of Freedom—Vardan Zakaryan Has Served His Sentence for Faith and Awaits Deportation to Armenia

On October 13, 2025, the term of imprisonment assigned to Vardan Zakaryan came to an end. After leaving the penal colony, he saw his friends who had come to support him. The long-awaited meeting lasted only about 5 minutes—the believer was taken to a deportation center, where he is awaiting deportation to his homeland.

In total, Zakaryan spent almost 5 years in various types of imprisonment. It all started with a harsh search of his home in Moscow, after which the believer was hospitalized with concussion. Since then, he has not been free: from the hospital he was taken to a temporary detention facility, then the believer was under house arrest for 2.5 years, for about a year in a Moscow pre-trial detention center and the rest of the term in penal colony No. 4 in Torzhok.

Conditions in the penal colony were not easy: constant interruptions in hot water; food was scarce (the basis of the diet was cabbage). Parcels from friends with food and a store at the penal colony helped to brighten up everyday life. Vardan also had health difficulties: a trophic ulcer opened on his leg—so serious that doctors spoke of the risk of amputation. Thanks to the help of friends who gave the necessary medicines, the operation was avoided. An imprisoned believer worried about his relatives: caring for his family and caring for his bedridden mother fell on the shoulders of the Vardan's spouse.

Zakaryan is a tailor of the highest category with more than 30 years of experience. With his skill and hard work, he earned the respect of both the colony administration and other prisoners. Over time, Vardan was assigned to teach sewing to others.

Four more fellow believers of Zakaryan, convicted together with him in the same criminal case, continue to serve their sentences in colonies.