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On 7 July 2025, 38-year-old Jehovah’s Witness Sona Olopova was released on parole from a correctional centre. This was reported by the website ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses: Legal Situation in Russia.’
Olopova had been in detention since spring 2024 and spent time in two correctional centres in Samara Region. At first she worked in car parts production, then she was transferred to ice cream production, and later she was given a job inside the correctional centre itself.
“It was scary: I came into the workshop and there were these huge, clattering machines. But over time, I even started to like it,” the believer said. Before the prosecution, she worked in retail and beauty services.
In May 2023, law enforcement officers carried out searches at at least three Jehovah’s Witnesses’ homes in Tolyatti, a major city on the Volga River. Among those targeted was Olopova, who became a suspect under the article on participation in the activities of an extremist organisation (Part 2, Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code). After being questioned, she was released under travel restrictions.
In January 2024, the court sentenced Olopova to two years of forced labour. The believer did not admit guilt, and commented on the prosecution’s version: “All the arguments boil down to this: in the city of Tolyatti, a small group of people practising the Jehovah’s Witness religion held worship services, which began with a song and a prayer and were aimed at discussing the Bible.”