"Reason Cannot Accept Criminal Prosecution for Acts of Mercy”. In Moscow, Wife of One of Convicted Jehovah's Witnesses Is Fined

Five months ago, Muscovite Mariya Pankova, 51, welcomed her husband, Sergey Tolokonnikov, at the gates of the penal colony where he had served a sentence for his faith. Now she herself has been punished — a fine of 500,000 rubles. This decision was announced by the Savyolovskiy District Court of Moscow on November 26, 2025.

"At the start of the trial, [the prosecutor] responded to my statement that I completely did not understand the charges against me by saying that my lawyer could explain everything if something was unclear. But the lawyer asked the same question... There was no answer; we never received one," Mariya said in her final statement. The prosecutor requested that the believer be sent to a penal colony for 2.5 years for attending Christian worship services.

Mariya and Sergey's family has been under persecution for more than four years. Sergey spent almost all that time in custody. The believer described her feelings this way: "We lived together for 27 years, and now I'm alone... I felt like a little train car that had been moving smoothly and joyfully along the track of life behind a locomotive, which was suddenly taken away. And now the car must move the entire load along a difficult road by itself — sometimes pushing, sometimes dragging, and sometimes helplessly crying by the wheels." During that period, Mariya had to care alone for her 78-year-old mother with a disability, and her mother-in-law.

The investigation against Pankova began two months before her husband's release. "I have serious health problems," the believer shared, "and since the criminal case appeared, they have worsened." The situation became even more difficult on the eve of the verdict: Mariya developed severe spinal pain and for several days could neither stand nor sit. During the same period, her mother-in-law passed away.

"When I was separated from my husband, trust in God, like an anchor, kept me from falling into despair and panic," Mariya recalls. "When the criminal prosecution reached me, I realized I needed to develop even greater trust."

The persecution of spouses and family members has already become a "signature" of Russian law enforcement. Mariya's words reflect the feelings of many believers in similar circumstances: "Reason cannot accept the criminal prosecution for faith and acts of mercy in today's world."