Actions of Law Enforcement Officers

Searches in Moscow Region. Zvenigorod — Law Enforcement Officers Carry Out Raid Against Jehovah’s Witnesses

Moscow Region

On December 10, 2025, in Zvenigorod, Moscow Region, raids were carried out at at least four addresses. Several people were interogated. A criminal case was initiated against Jehovah's Witness Aleksandr Paysov, who is now in pretrial detention.

At around 6 a.m., Investigative Committee officers, led by Sergey Zagibalov, broke into the home of Aleksandr Paysov and his mother. They seized personal notes and electronic devices. Aleksandr was detained, leaving his 86-year-old mother alone without any means of communication.

The next day, the court sent Aleksandr Paysov to detention center No. 2 in Volokolamsk. He works as a postal worker and is known as a responsible and peaceful person.

At another address, a search was conducted without the owners' knowledge: the lock was broken, evidence that people had been were visible, and a crowbar was left behind in the yard.

In the Moscow Region, law enforcement agencies have initiated criminal cases against at least nine Jehovah's Witnesses, four of whom have received suspended sentences.

The Case of Paysov in Zvenigorod

Case History
In December 2025, in Zvenigorod, Moscow Region, the Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case for participating in the activity of a banned organization against elderly Aleksandr Paysov. After searches and interrogations, the court sent the believer to a pretrial detention center, leaving his elderly mother, a woman with a disability, without her son’s support. In August 2026, Paysov’s criminal case was sent to court, and at the end of October, the believer was sentenced to 2 years in a penal colony.
Timeline

Persons in case

Paysov
Aleksandr

Criminal case

Region:
Moscow Region
Locality:
Zvenigorod
Suspected of:
“…engaged in unlawful missionary activity, expressed in teaching prayer to Jehovah God, explaining a number of basic tenets of the doctrine of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and familiarizing others with religious events and the history of the Jehovah’s Witnesses organization…” (from the decision to open a criminal case)
Court case number:
12502460008000211
Initiated:
December 10, 2025
Current case stage:
verdict did not take effect
Investigating:
Investigative Department for the City of Odintsovo of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Moscow Region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (2)
Court case number:
1-715/2026
Court of First Instance:
Odintsovo City Court of the Moscow Region
Judge of the Court of First Instance:
Katerina Sunchugasheva
Case History
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