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22 Oct, 2026

Jehovah’s Witness Aleksandr Kutin released after serving his sentence

Aleksandr Kutin, 44, was released on 16 October 2026 after completing his term, the website Jehovah’s Witnesses: Legal Situation in Russia reports.

Aleksandr Kutin was sentenced in May 2024 to three years in a general-regime penal colony on charges of ‘organising the activities of an extremist organisation’ (Article 282.2, Part 1 of the Russian Criminal Code).

The authorities opened a criminal case against Aleksandr Kutin and two other Jehovah’s Witnesses, Maksim Derendyayev and Sergey Ashikhmin, in April 2021. According to investigators, the men ‘arranged and coordinated’ religious services and the spreading of their faith in Izhevsk. Maksim Derendyayev was released in September 2026, while Sergey Ashikhmin remains behind bars.

Jehovah’s Witness Aleksandr Kutin released after serving his sentence

Political prisoners

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