Aleksey with his wife, Vitalina, June 5, 2026.
On June 5, 2026, Aleksey Dyadkin was released. He spent nearly 6 years behind bars. "God never left me all this time," the 37-year-old believer said after his release. "Everything is all right. I don't regret my choice."
For the first 2.5 years, Aleksey was held in a pretrial detention center; during that period, his wife, Vitalina, was not allowed to visit him. The situation only changed after Aleksey was transferred to a penal colony. "When we hugged, we stood there for a long time, unable to believe that we were actually holding each other," he recalled of their first meeting after several years of separation.
Even behind bars, Aleksey found ways to support his wife. Vitalina described one of them: "We had a thick notebook. First, he would write in it, and then, before the next hearing, I would write in it... When I had no contact with him for a while, I would take that notebook, and it felt as if he were talking to me."
According to Aleksey, letters helped him keep the right view of what was happening over the long years and refocus on positive things. "It's really something ... Once I received an empty letter, just the envelope. When I saw my name on it, I realized that people were thinking about me," he said through tears. "Maybe the letter itself didn't reach me for whatever reason, but I still felt that care and love."
In the colony, Aleksey gained a reputation as a hardworking man — he repaired many things at the facility with his own hands. He also took part in sports events and won prizes. One of the employees who works with prisoners described Aleksey as one of the most positive people in the entire colony.
Aleksey Dyadkin was convicted as part of a criminal case against five Jehovah's Witnesses from Gukovo, Rostov Region. He was the last of them to be released. Several other believers from this region remain behind bars.
