Actions of Law Enforcement Officers

Searches at Homes of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Nizhny Novgorod: Four Believers in Pretrial Detention

Nizhegorod Region

On March 17, 2026, searches were conducted in Nizhny Novgorod and the surrounding area at 10 homes of Jehovah's Witnesses. In total 16 people from 5 families were affected. Among them were Sergey and Viktoriya Verkhoturov, who had served sentences for their faith several years earlier.

On the day of the searches, the court ordered four men — Sergey Verkhoturov, Maksim Kalinin, Anatoliy Chepkasov, and Yevgeniy Konkov — to be placed in a pretrial detention center.

The raid was carried out as part of a new criminal case for participating in the activity of an extremist organization, which the Ministry of Internal Affairs initiated on March 5, 2026, against unidentified persons. The searches were initiated by Investigator A. E. Stifeyev.

The Investigative Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Nizhny Novgorod Region has initiated 12 out of 13 criminal cases against 26 believers.

Case of Verhoturov and Others in Nizhny Novgorod

Case History
In March 2026, a case was initiated against Jehovah's Witnesses in the Nizhegorod region. Security forces searched 18 believers. Yevgeniy Konkov, Anatoliy Chepkasov, Sergey Verkhoturov and Maksim Kalinin were interrogated and placed in pre-trial detention. For Sergey Verkhoturov, this is the second faith case.
Timeline

Persons in case

Chepkasov
Anatoliy
Kalinin
Maksim
Konkov
Yevgeniy
Verhoturov
Sergey

Criminal case

Region:
Nizhegorod Region
Locality:
Nizhny Novgorod
Court case number:
12601220089000124
Initiated:
March 5, 2026
Current case stage:
preliminary investigation
Investigating:
Department of Internal Affairs of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in the Nizhegorod Region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (2)
Case History
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