Alexander Kutin, a 44-year-old resident of Izhevsk convicted of organizing the activities of a Jehovah's Witnesses religious group, was released on October 16 after completing his sentence. A website documenting the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia reported his release on October 20.
Kutin spent approximately two and a half years in detention, first in a pretrial detention center and later at Penal Colony No. 3 in Russia's Mari El Republic.
In May 2024, Izhevsk's Pervomaisky District Court sentenced him to three years in a general-regime penal colony under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of Russia's Criminal Code, which criminalizes organizing the activities of an extremist organization.
Maksim Derendyaev and Sergei Ashikhmin were prosecuted alongside Kutin. Investigators alleged that the men coordinated the activities of a religious community and the dissemination of its teachings in Izhevsk.
The prosecution began in April 2021. Following the opening of the case, security officers conducted extensive searches, detained several believers, and questioned other members of the community.
According to the website documenting the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses, testimony from anonymous witnesses was among the evidence used at trial. An appeals court upheld the sentence.
Maksim Derendyaev was released in September 2026. Sergei Ashikhmin remained in custody at the time of the report.
In 2017, Russia's Supreme Court declared the Jehovah's Witnesses Administrative Center and affiliated local organizations extremist and banned their activities.
Russian authorities subsequently began prosecuting followers of the faith, including over group prayers, Bible discussions, and religious meetings.
International human rights organizations have criticized the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia as a violation of freedom of conscience and religion.
Kutin's release followed the completion of his sentence, not the reversal of his conviction.