Actions of Law Enforcement Officers

Series of Raids on Jehovah's Witnesses in Ufa: Married Couple Sent to Pretrial Detention Center

Bashkortostan

On February 11, 2026, searches were carried out at nine addresses in Ufa. Law enforcement officers detained and interrogated 17 people, 2 of whom remain in custody.

Immediately after the raid, five individuals were taken to a temporary detention facility. Two days later, the court imposed a ban on certain actions on Andrey Gubeev, Sergey Bastaev and Mariya Gareeva, while sending the couple Ruslan and Roza Tazyrov to a pretrial detention center.

The searches were initiated by Major of Justice V. Kharrasov, investigator of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Republic of Bashkortostan. Earlier, on February 3, 2026, he had initiated a criminal case under Article 282.2(1) and (2) of the RF CrC.

Case of Tazyrov and Others in Ufa

Case History
In February 2026, the Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case against Jehovah’s Witnesses in Ufa and conducted searches at 9 addresses. The couple, Ruslan and Roza Tazyrov, were charged with organizing the activity of an extremist organization, while Sergey Bastayev, Andrey Gubeyev, Alfiya Dzhavadova, and Mariya Gareeva were charged with participating in it. The Tazyrovs were sent to a pretrial detention center, and the others were placed under a ban on certain actions. In June 2026, despite protests from the defense, the court sent Mariya Gareeva for an inpatient psychiatric expert study.
Timeline

Persons in case

Bastaev
Sergey
Dzhavadova
Alfiya
Gareeva
Mariya
Gubeev
Andrey
Tazyrov
Ruslan
Tazyrova
Roza

Criminal case

Region:
Bashkortostan
Locality:
Ufa
Suspected of:
"organized and held meetings in public places through videoconferencing . . . for the purpose of promoting the activities of a banned organization" (from the decision to initiate a criminal case)
Court case number:
12601800053000120
Initiated:
February 3, 2026
Current case stage:
preliminary investigation
Investigating:
Main Investigation Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Republic of Bashkortostan
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (2), 282.2 (1)
Case History
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