Petrov Igor

Name: Petrov Igor Vladimirovich
Date of Birth: August 24, 1969
Current status: convicted person
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.3 (1), 282.2 (1)
Current restrictions: suspended sentence
Sentence: the punishment is 6 years and 5 months of imprisonment, with deprivation of the right to engage in activities related to leadership and participation in the work of public organizations for a period of 3 years, with restriction of freedom for a period of 1 year, the sentence in the form of imprisonment is considered conditional with a probation period of 4 years

Biography

In February 2019, one of the most massive operations of law enforcement officers against believers took place in Surgut and several other cities of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area. 7 people reported torture, 3 people were in custody for a long time, and the total number of defendants in criminal cases exceeded 20. One of them is Igor Petrov.

Igor was born in 1969 in the village of Turdakovo (Poretsky district of the Chuvash Republic). He is the eldest child in the family; he has a brother and sister. They spent their childhood in the city of Shymkent (Kazakhstan). Igor loved to carve wood and sew clothes. He was educated as a cabinetmaker and furniture maker. In 1994 he moved to the city of Surgut (Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug) in search of a job. There he worked as a carpenter and mason. Then he got a job as a forklift driver at "Surgutneftegaz".

A few years after the move, Igor met his future wife, Larisa. The young people were deeply touched by the beauty and practicality of the biblical principles that change lives for the better. Soon they both firmly decided to live as the Holy Scriptures teach. Igor and Larisa got married in 2001, two years later a son, Matvey, was born in the family. The spouses love to play board games, relax in nature, and travel.

When Igor's mother found out that a criminal case had been opened against her son because of his faith, she found it difficult to understand how such a simple, kind, and hardworking person could be accused of extremism. In December 2023, the court sentenced Petrov to 6 years and 5 months in a penal colony. After a while, the Russian Embassy in the Republic of Kazakhstan decided to deprive him of Russian citizenship. In June 2026, the Court of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area declared this illegal and reinstated Petrov in his rights.

Citizenship Deprivation

Case History

In February 2019, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation initiated a criminal case against 18 men and 1 woman from Surgut (among them was a man mistakenly taken for one of Jehovah’s Witnesses). Their homes were searched. During the interrogations, 7 believers were subjected to violence. Artur Severinchik was sent to the pre-trial detention center for 29 days, and Yevgeniy Fedin and Sergey Loginov—for 56. Timofey Zhukov was unlawfully placed in a psychiatric hospital for 14 days. Believers filed complaints about the use of torture with the Investigative Committee, the ECHR and the Commissioner for Human Rights, a press conference was held with the participation of human rights defenders, but none of the law enforcement officers was brought to justice. In October 2021, the materials of the case, which in 2020 was separated into a different proceeding, went to court. Two years later, the court sentenced all believers to a suspended term from 4 to 7 years. In February 2025, the court of appeal upheld this verdict. A few months later, Igor Petrov learned that he had been deprived of Russian citizenship. He challenged this, and in June 2026, the Court of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area reinstated his rights.
Timeline
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