“How Did Everyone Come to Love You?” — Olga Panyuta Completed Her Sentence for Faith

On April 10, 2026, Olga Panyuta, 66, one of Jehovah's Witnesses from Primorye Territory, was released from prison. She had been convicted for her faith under Russia's extremism legislation. Olga spent more than three years in a penal colony in a case that began with raids in the town of Spassk‑Dalniy in the autumn of 2018 and ended with real prison terms for three believers.

Olga was born in 1959 in Nizhny Novgorod. She graduated from a technical college and worked as a kindergarten teacher and later as a social worker. By the time of her arrest, she had already retired. Her husband, Vladimir, worked for many years on the railway. Together they raised two daughters and a son. Olga has been one of Jehovah's Witnesses since April 1996—nearly 30 years. It was for this faith that she and her fellow believers were deprived of their freedom.

After searches and detention, Olga spent almost a year under house arrest, followed by more than three years under travel restrictions. In February 2023, the court found her guilty of "involvement in the activities of an extremist organization" and sentenced her to four and a half years in prison. She was taken into custody directly from the courtroom and transferred to a pretrial detention center. After an appeal reduced her sentence by two months, Olga was sent to a penal colony.

Prison conditions proved especially harsh given Olga's age. She recalled that the most difficult experience was her first placement in a punishment cell for 14 days. "It was cold. I was wearing just one dress. The window was open. To keep warm, I would sit on a narrow metal bench, tuck my legs under myself, and pull the hem of my dress over my knees. Sitting like that for a long time was very hard," she said. Later, Panyuta was transferred to strict confinement conditions.

Her relations with the prison administration were calm, while her relationships with other inmates were warm. "They called me 'Auntie Olya,' 'Olga Aleksandrovna,' (patronymic used to show respect—editor's note) and one young woman called me 'my little granny,'" Olga recalled. According to her, even prison staff were surprised by how others treated her. One operative officer once asked her, "How did it happen that everyone came to love you?"

Prayer, memories of life in freedom, and letters from around the world helped Olga cope with imprisonment. "They were the greatest support, flowing in like little streams. They were full of care, concern, humor, and stories—I felt as if I was traveling all over the world," she said, adding that the letters supported not only her but other prisoners as well.

The criminal case against Olga Panyuta is part of a broader campaign of persecution against Jehovah's Witnesses in Primorye Territory. Other defendants in the same case, Aleksey Trofimov and Dmitriy Malevaniy, remain behind bars until October 2028 and April 2029, respectively.