In the Kemerovo region, a criminal case was opened against two Jehovah's Witnesses, and searches were conducted at their premises.

In the city of Prokopyevsk, Kemerovo region, on November 10, searches were carried out in the homes of two Jehovah's Witnesses. This was reported on a website covering the persecution of believers.

Searches took place at 63-year-old Pavel Brilkov and 46-year-old Yuri Chernykh, the father of a minor child. A criminal case was opened against them for participation in the activities of an extremist organization (Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code). According to investigators, “acting deliberately, by a group of people, in agreement with Vlasov A.V., implementing a criminal intent, being in an unspecified place in the city of Prokopyevsk,” they participated in the activities of a prohibited legal entity. After the searches, they and Chernykh’s wife were sent for interrogation, where believers exercised the right not to testify against themselves and their loved ones, enshrined in Article 51 of the Constitution.

Previously, Brilkov and Chernykh were witnesses in the criminal case of another believer, Andrei Vlasov (he is under house arrest). As part of that case under the article on organizing the activities of an extremist organization (Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code), in the summer of 2020, a search was alreadycarried out in the apartment of Chernykh and his wife.

• According to the website “Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia,” in the Kemerovo region, two believers are in prison, three more have been given suspended sentences, and seven are awaiting sentencing.
• On April 20, 2017, the Supreme Court recognized the “Administrative Center of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia” as an extremist organization, liquidated it and banned its activities in Russia. In August of the same year, all Jehovah's Witnesses organizations were added to the list of prohibited organizations. After this, criminal cases began to be opened en masse against believers.