New Search in Yoshkar-Ola. Father of Young Child Faced Criminal Prosecution

On October 21, 2025, Konstantin Khlybov, 34, one of Jehovah's Witnesses from Yoshkar-Ola, was detained. His house was searched. After several days in custody, the believer was placed under house arrest. The investigation charges him with organizing and participating in the activities of an extremist organization.

In the morning of that day, Konstantin took the child to kindergarten. Law enforcement officers approached the man on the street and took him home for a search. On the way, he was kept in handcuffs. The security forces, led by the senior investigator of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Republic of Mari El, A. S. Kasharin, seized all the electronics from the Khlybov family.

After the interrogation, Konstantin was detained, and the next day the court sent him to a pre-trial detention center. On October 31, the court of appeal softened the restriction measure for the believer and imposed house arrest on him.

In the Republic of Mari El, 11 of Jehovah's Witnesses have already been convicted for their faith: 10 people received heavy fines, one believer received a suspended term.