Denis Peresunko is being released from the penal colony. June 2026
Denis Peresunko is being released from the penal colony. June 2026
"When the door opened and I saw my friends, joy came immediately. I realized I was free." This is how Denis Peresunko, a 48-year-old one of Jehovah's Witnesses, described his first feelings after release. He was convicted under an extremist article for reading the Bible together with others. On June 9, 2026, his prison term came to an end.
The persecution began back in the summer of 2019. Denis Peresunko, a man with a disability, was detained and placed in a pretrial detention center for 5 months, where several of his fellow believers were already being held. The court proceedings coincided with the height of the COVID pandemic — it claimed the life of Denis's wife, Olga. In September 2021, Denis Peresunko was again behind bars, this time for years.
"There are people there too — calm, good people you can talk to. The most important thing is to always rely on God, on his principles and advice," Denis concluded. He served his sentence 1,200 kilometers from home in a penal colony in Udmurtia. The believer worked in the sewing workshop, making inflatable sleds. Denis often exceeded the set quota and was commended with a bonus twice.
Denis Peresunko is one of 84 Jehovah's Witnesses who have served actual prison terms for their beliefs. Another 115 believers remain in penal colonies.
