New Searches at Homes of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Birobidzhan. Raid Affected Three Local Residents

On October 9, 2025, law enforcement officers raided the homes of three female believers in Birobidzhan. One of them, Yelena Shestopalova, 60, is the mother of Vladlena Kukavitsa, who has been on trial for her faith for over a year.

Yelena was getting ready to go to her daughter's trial when her house was searched. It happened at 7 a.m. Her husband, who was ill with SARS, was also in the apartment. Around the same time, searches took place at the homes of two other women and lasted from 1.5 to 3 hours. One of them was detained at her workplace. Electronic devices, Bibles, and personal notes were seized from the believers.

It turned out that a few days earlier, criminal cases had been initiated against Yelena Shestopalova, Olga Chebrak, 54, and Nataliya Kocheva, 63, on suspicion of participating in the activity of an extremist organization. The initiator was FSB investigator Dmitriy Yankin, who over the past 5 years has already initiated cases against at least 20 Jehovah's Witnesses in Birobidzhan. The search warrant was issued by Olga Klyuchikova, the same judge who is handling the case of Yelena's daughter.

Currently, the number of Jehovah's Witnesses being prosecuted in Birobidzhan has reached 30.