Biography
In September 2025, law enforcement officers entered Aleksandr Akelin's apartment pretending to be neighbors, whose home had allegedly been flooded. The couple and their son, who was visiting them, were interrogated, and then the head of the family was placed in a pretrial detention center.
Aleksandr was born in Saratov in 1966. As a child, he did Greco-Roman wrestling. After finishing high school, he worked as a bus driver.
In 1988, Aleksandr married Irina, with whom he had gone to school. She is an economist. Irina likes music and writes poems. The Akelins' son already has his own family; he is raising two children.
Irina was the first in the family to become interested in the Bible. Aleksandr soon joined her. "When associating with Jehovah's Witnesses, I was amazed at their sincerity, kindness, and striving to live according to God's standards," he recalls, "I understood: these are real Christians!" Studying the Bible, Aleksandr changed his life. "I stopped abusing alcohol, quit smoking and using foul language," the believer said, "I saved my family and found the purpose of life." The Akelins were baptized as Jehovah's Witnesses in 1998.
Aleksandr suffers from hypertension and bronchial asthma. The prosecution made the situation worse. Due to restrictions, he is not allowed to see a doctor regularly — only emergency services are available to him. All that happened has also affected Irina's well-being. She suffers from diabetes mellitus; during the search she felt ill several times due to high blood pressure. She had to quit her job due to her health.