Raids Against Jehovah’s Witnesses in Southern Siberia: Elderly Believer Detained

On February 11, 2026, at least eight searches were conducted at the homes of local Jehovah's Witnesses in several populated areas of Altai Territory — the city of Novoaltaysk, the settlement of Talmenka, and the village of Sannikovo. One of them, 63‑year‑old Sergey Petrov, was taken into custody.

The investigative actions were carried out by officers of the Investigative Committee and the FSB. They seized copies of the Bible, other books — such as People Who Never Part With the Bible by religious scholar Sergey Ivanenko — as well as electronic data storage devices. After the searches, the believers were interrogated.

Persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in the southern regions of Siberia has been intensifying — in just the past six months, at least 15 people have become subjects of criminal cases, the overwhelming majority of whom are under arrest.