Updated: March 18, 2024
Name: Kobotov Igor Sergeyevich
Date of Birth: September 19, 1973
Current status: convicted person
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (1), 282.3 (1)
Current restrictions: Recognizance agreement
Sentence: Punishment in the form of 6 years 4 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 liberty for a period of 1 year, punishment in the form of imprisonment shall be considered conditional with a probationary period of 3 years 6 months

Biography

On February 15, 2019, one of the largest and most brutal operations against believers took place in Surgut and several other cities of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug. Seven people were tortured, three were sent to a pre-trial detention center (two of them spent 56 days behind bars), and the total number of defendants in criminal cases exceeded 20. One of them is Igor Kobotov. What do we know about him?

Igor was born in 1973 in the city of Apsheronsk (Krasnodar Territory). His parents divorced when he was only 6 years old, but he maintained a cheerful attitude. He was fond of football, fishing, cycling, graduated from a music school in the class of wind instruments (saxophone).

After serving two years in the army and returning to his hometown, Igor faced an economic crisis and was forced to go to Surgut to work. There he worked hard in various oil companies and received additional education. Currently works at Transneft.

When Igor was 23 years old, he began to think about how and why life was created. His search for answers led him to the Bible, where his thirst for answers was finally quenched. Igor was determined to live by Christian standards.

In 2005, he married Julia, with whom they have been happily married for 14 years. In 2011, Yegor was born in their family. Igor is doing everything possible to be an example for his son. For example, realizing the value of life, he abandoned his risky passion for motorcycle sports and took up the manufacture of leather goods, bone carving, winemaking and painting. The family especially appreciated his passion for making furniture - all the furniture in the house of the Kobotovs is made with their own hands. The whole family loves joint cycling in nature, country trips and picnics.

Relatives are very worried and sincerely do not understand how it is possible to accuse such a decent family man and law-abiding citizen as Igor of extremism.

Case History

In February 2019, the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against 18 men and 1 woman from Surgut (among them was a man mistaken for a Jehovah’s Witness). Their homes were searched. During the interrogations, 7 believers were subjected to violence. Artur Severinchik was sent to a pre-trial detention center for 29 days, and Yevgeny Fedin and Sergey Loginov - for 56. Timofey Zhukov was illegally placed in a psychiatric hospital for 14 days. Believers complained about the use of torture to 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 security forces was ever brought to justice. In October 2021, the case materials were submitted to the court. The prosecutor requested imprisonment for the defendants for a term of 3 years and 3 months to 8.5 years in prison, and for Loginov - 9.5 years, which was the most severe request for punishment for believing in Jehovah God in modern Russia.