Сourt in Shadrinsk Sentences Ilya Yershov. Investigation Deemed Conversations About Respecting People Extremist

On January 26, 2026, Judge Natalya Zvereva of the Shadrinskiy District Court fined 39-year-old Ilya Yershov, 400,000 rubles. The believer denies any guilt in extremism: "I was merely saying that we should respect other people, their circumstances, opinions, and personal space."

Ilya's prosecution for his religious beliefs first started in the summer of 2021, together with Aleksandr Lubin. Both believers were suspected of organizing the activity of a banned organization. Ilya described how these events affected his family's financial situation: "After the search and my detention in July 2021, I was forced to resign from work. My bank accounts were frozen, and I was added to the Rosfinmonitoring list as an extremist. These restrictions made it virtually impossible to find employment and, therefore, I couldn't provide financially for my family."

In March 2023, the case against Yershov was dropped, but 6 months later a new one was initiated — this time for participating in extremist activity. "I had no idea what awaited me," Ilya recalls. "My wife and I were constantly expecting another search; we couldn't plan anything or leave home for long because we didn't know what might happen. It's probably only now that the feeling has gone that they could show up at our place at any moment."

Ilya also spoke about something in his case that he considers absurd. Over the course of 6 months, he was put on the wanted list three times; investigators claimed that he had stopped responding, was not living at his registered address, and was ignoring summonses. According to Yershov, however, he lived at his registered address the entire time, and his phone number never changed.

The court began hearing the case in June 2025. Throughout the proceedings, relatives and friends never stopped supporting Ilya and his wife, Yelizaveta. "To me, they are heroes, they inspire me," comments Ilya.

As of today, 10 Jehovah's Witnesses in the Kurgan Region have faced prosecution for their faith in God. Five of them have been sentenced to fines ranging from 300,000 to 650,000 rubles.