Jehovah's Witness from Kursk, Artem Bagratyan, sentenced to two and a half years in prison, was released on June 15. He served his sentence while in custody in a pre-trial detention center. This was reported on a website dedicated to the persecution of believers.

On June 4, Bagratyan, his wife Alevtina, as well as believer Andrei Ryshkov were found guilty of participating in the activities of an extremist organization (Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code). Jehovah's Witness Andrei Andreev was found guilty of organizing the activities of an extremist organization (Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code). They were sentenced to two to four and a half years in prison.

A criminal case against Kursk Jehovah's Witnesses was opened in 2019 and was conducted by the local FSB department. After her arrest, Alevtina Bagratyan spent more than a year in a pre-trial detention center, after which the woman was transferred to house arrest. Her husband and Andreev remained in custody for more than a year and a half, and Ryshkov for more than a year.

In April 2017, the Supreme Court recognized the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia as an extremist organization and banned its activities throughout the country. In August of the same year, all communities of Jehovah's Witnesses were added to the list of prohibited ones.
After this, a stream of criminal cases against representatives of the confession began. In February 2019, the court handed down its first sentence with real imprisonment - Danish citizen Dennis Christensen was sentenced to six years in prison.

Kursk Jehovah's Witness sentenced to 2.5 years in prison was released