Case History
In the early morning of July 2018 in Vladivostok, armed law enforcement officers in masks invaded the apartment of a 90-year-old relative of Dmitriy Barmakin and his wife Yelena. Later, Yelena was accused of extremism and the family’s bank accounts were blocked. The reason for this was the woman’s participation in meetings for worship, which were secretly filmed by an FSB agent. In May 2020, the believer’s case went to court, and in September it was returned to the prosecutor’s office. In August 2021, the investigator merged the cases against Yelena and her fellow believers—Yuriy Redozubov, Igor Lonchakov, Lyudviga Katanaeva, Nina Astvatsaturova, Yekaterina Treguba, Yelena Tsorn, and the Verigins couple. In June 2022, the case went to court, and in January 2025, the believers received the following sentences: Lonchakov—7 years in a penal colony, Redozubov—6.5 years in a penal colony; Treguba and Katanaeva—3 years and 4 months suspended sentence; Barmakina, Tsorn and Astvatsaturova—3 years suspended. In July 2025, the court of appeal upheld the verdict.