Actions of Law Enforcement Officers

Searches at Homes of Jehovah's Witnesses Again in the Moscow and Tver Regions. Two Men Detained in Solnechnogorsk and Tver

Moscow

On April 8, 2025, the home of Viktor Velikov, 54, one of Jehovah's Witnesses from Solnechnogorsk, was searched, after which he was placed in a temporary detention facility for 2 days, and then in a pretrial detention center. He is a defendant in a case for financing the activity of an extremist organization.

At 6 a.m., Viktor and his wife heard a loud knock on the door. Opening it, they saw a local police officer, two law enforcement officers and testifying witnesses. The police officers behaved properly. According to them, they were looking for personal notes, Bibles and the Koran. Electronic devices and bank cards were confiscated from the believer. The search lasted about 2 hours, after which he was taken to the Savelovskiy Investigative Committee, where he was interrogated, charged under Article 282.3(1) of the RF CrC and detained.

Earlier, in 2023, the home of Viktor Velikov had already been searched — back then police officers went to his place of work and took him home. They searched for any documents or electronic media that could mention Jehovah's name or Bible terms. He was also interrogated in the Moscow Directorate of the Investigative Committee. According to available information, the new criminal case is related to the case against Aleksandr Serebryakov, who was sentenced to 5 years in prison by the court in December 2024 on similar charges.

Update. On April 10, in Tver, as part of the criminal case against Viktor Velikov, a search was carried out at the home of Andrey Lukin and his wife. Law enforcement officers waited for them for 3 hours near their home. The actual search lasted about 2 hours, it was carried out by four officials who reported to Oleg Postnyy, senior detective for the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Tver Region. Electronic devices were seized from the believers. Andrey was taken to Moscow to the Savelovskiy Interdistrict Investigative Committee. After interrogation, he was placed in a temporary detention facility, and then, by decision of the Savelovskiy Court of Moscow, in pretrial detention center No. 7 “Kapotnya” until April 25, 2025.

The Case of Velikov and Lukin in Moscow

Case History
Viktor Velikov from Solnechnogorsk first faced criminal prosecution in September 2023, when his home was searched. In April 2025, the law enforcement officers searched his family home again. The believer was taken for interrogation to the Investigative Committee of Moscow, after which he was placed in a temporary detention facility for 2 days. Viktor was charged with financing the activity of an extremist organization. At the same time, a search was carried out in Tver at the home of Andrey Lukin’s family. Both men were placed in a pretrial detention center.
Timeline

Persons in case

Lukin
Andrey
Velikov
Viktor

Criminal case

Region:
Moscow
Locality:
Moscow
Suspected of:
"collecting funds and providing financial services knowingly intended to support the activity of a religious organization" (from the ruling to separate a criminal case)
Court case number:
42402450011000106
Initiated:
August 5, 2024
Current case stage:
preliminary investigation
Investigating:
Department for Investigating Especially Important Cases of the Investigative Directorate for the Northern Administrative District of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the city of Moscow
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.3 (1)
Case History
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