Name: Verigina Violetta Valeriyevna
Date of Birth: September 12, 1985
Current status: convicted person
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (2)

Biography

In July 2020, a series of searches were carried out in the homes of peaceful believers in Vladivostok. Among the victims was Violetta Verigina.

Violetta was born in Syktyvkar in 1985. Her father was a military man, her mother worked in a diagnostic center. As a child, she was fond of gymnastics, aerobics, dancing and studied English. After school, she graduated from the Komi State Pedagogical Institute as a teacher of English and French. She also received an additional specialty "translator in the field of professional communication".

For some time she worked as an administrator in a hotel, and then - and until now - as an English teacher. Violetta still enjoys playing sports. She also loves to travel around Russia, visit theaters, watch movies and listen to pop music.

As a child, Violetta began to realize her need for spiritual development, and with the help of her grandmother, she was able to satisfy it, finding answers to her questions in the Bible. In 2016, Violetta met Roman, a man who shares her life values and spiritual interests. They got married and settled in Vladivostok.

Unjustified criminal prosecution and the associated stress caused Violetta's health to deteriorate. The Verigins also suffered financially: their bank accounts are blocked, the spouses constantly have to leave work in connection with the trial.

Violetta's parents, who do not share her religious beliefs, are outraged by the persecution of their daughter and deny her involvement in extremist activities.

Case History

On an early July morning in 2018, in Vladivostok, masked armed law enforcement officers invaded the apartment of a 90-year-old relative of Dmitriy and Yelena Barmakin. Later, Yelena was charged with extremism and the family’s bank accounts were blocked. The reason for this was her participation in meetings for worship, which were secretly filmed by an FSB agent. In May 2020, the believer’s case went to court, and in September it was returned to the prosecutor’s office. In August 2021, the investigator merged the cases against Yelena and her fellow believers — Yuriy Redozubov, Igor Lonchakov, Lyudviga Katanaeva, Nina Astvatsaturova, Yekaterina Treguba, Yelena Tsorn and the Verigin couple. In June 2022, the case went to court, and in January 2025, the believers received the following sentences: Lonchakov — 7 years imprisonment, Redozubov — 6.5 years imprisonment; Treguba and Katanaeva — 3 years and 4 months suspended; Barmakina, Tsorn and Astvatsaturova — 3 years suspended.
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