New Searches in Moscow. Criminal Cases Initiated Against Two Women

On April 24, 2025, Mariya Pankova, 50, wife of Sergey Tolokonnikov, and Nadezhda Lebed, 74, were searched. The women were charged with participating in the activities of an extremist organization because of their belief in Jehovah God.

The criminal case against Pankova was opened on April 22, 2025 by Natalya Vikhareva, a senior investigator of the Koptevsky Interdistrict Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee for the Northern Administrative District of Moscow. According to the investigation, the believer's guilt lies in the fact that she participated in meetings for worship of Jehovah's Witnesses organized by Sergey Tolokonnikov, Anatoly Marunov and Roman Mareyev, who were convicted for their beliefs.

On the morning of April 24, police officers knocked on Mariya Pankova's door. They explained that new circumstances had opened in her husband's case, and therefore she needed to be interrogated. This news made her mother sick. Mariya was taken to the Investigative Committee for interrogation. The investigator chose a restriction measure for her in the form of a recognizance agreement. After the interrogation, Mariya's house was searched, and her laptop was seized.

On the same day, a search under the direction of police officer D. A. Nesterov took place at the home of Nadezhda Lebed and her husband. Electronic devices were seized from them. The spouses were interrogated in the investigative committee. They took a recognizance agreement from Nadezhda. Earlier, in 2021, the Lebed family had already been searched.

In total, 20 Jehovah's Witnesses are persecuted for their faith in Moscow, seven of them are serving sentences in colonies.