A Jehovah’s Witness from Kurgan, a city in the Urals, has been fined 300,000 roubles (US$3,300) in an extremism case.

On 15 September, Kurgan City Court fined 29-year-old Anastasia Gaitur 300,000 roubles (US$3,300) for participating in the activities of an organisation designated as extremist (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code), reports the website “Jehovah’s Witnesses, Legal Situation in Russia.”

The prosecutor requested a three-and-a-half-year prison sentence for Gaitur; she did not admit guilt.

“I do not intend to give up the path I have chosen and I will not stop being who I am—a Christian,” she told the court. According to her, there is not a single negative assessment in the case, nor a single witness who spoke ill of her.

According to investigators, Anastasia Gaitur took part in online meetings, carried out “ritual actions,” sang hymns and prayed “in her role as a Christian woman.” The FSB also believes she discussed “the content of religious literature, including literature banned by the court,” with other participants.

The case against Gaitur was launched in May 2024, when a search was also conducted at her home. She was released on a travel restriction order. Before this, her father, Alexander Gaitur, was also prosecuted—authorities believe he organised the gathering where his daughter took part. Their cases were investigated separately. In 2023, Anastasia’s mother was also detained in connection with the Jehovah’s Witnesses case, but was later released.