Arrest: In the fall of 2018, Serhiy Filatov's home in Dzhankoy was raided by an armed special unit—four buses and several service vehicles arrived. After the search, investigators initiated a criminal case against him for 'organizing the activities of an extremist organization' (Part 1, Article 282.2 of the Russian Criminal Code) for leading the local Jehovah's Witnesses community. There were no victims in the case; the only prosecution witness was a security officer, and 'experts' included an Orthodox church priest and a local resident with a 'higher education in religious studies.'

Sentence: On March 5, 2020, a judge of the Russian-controlled 'Dzhankoy District Court' sentenced Serhiy Filatov to 6 years in a general regime colony. The appellate and cassation courts upheld the sentence. In 2023, having served over a third of his term, Filatov applied for a replacement of imprisonment with corrective labor—the court denied the request despite a positive character reference from the colony administration. On January 21, 2026, Serhiy Filatov was released from the colony in Rostov-on-Don, having served nearly six years in full.

Serhiy Viktorovych Filatov was born on June 6, 1972, in the village of Pryvolne, Kherson region. He trained as an electrician. He moved to Dzhankoy in occupied Crimea to care for his sick daughter. He led the local Jehovah's Witnesses community 'Syvash,' which had been active in the city for 50 years.

Family: married, father of four children. His wife Natalia supported him throughout his imprisonment. During his incarceration, Filatov trained as a third-class carpenter. He described the conditions in the colony after his release: 'The hardest part was that many inmates smoked. Sometimes I'd enter the cell, and there'd be a thick cloud of smoke. I breathed fresh air through a small window opening. I had to explain my position and stand firm. But I tried to apply what the Bible teaches—treat others as you would like to be treated. In the end, relationships with everyone were very good.'

After his arrest, about thirty believers from Dzhankoy left the city out of fear of persecution. Overall, according to the Jehovah's Witnesses organization, 35 Jehovah's Witnesses have faced criminal prosecution in occupied Crimea. The vast majority of those convicted—14 people (82%)—received 6 or more years in a colony. In 2022, the European Court of Human Rights deemed the ban on Jehovah's Witnesses illegal and ordered Russia to pay compensation of over 59.6 million euros and release all detainees—Russia ignores this ruling.

Information from open sources: Suspilne Crimea, ZMINA, Radio Liberty (Crimea.Realities), CrimeaSOS, Crimean Tatar Resource Center, Association of Relatives of Kremlin Political Prisoners.

Photo: Association of Relatives of Kremlin Political Prisoners.

Update date: 03.07.2026.