Following Husband’s Footsteps. Court Sentences Mother of Disabled Child for Talking on Bible Topics

On September 16, 2025, the court gave Yuliya Pasynkova, 34, a 5-year suspended sentence. Her husband, Aleksey, is already serving a suspended sentence for his faith, and her mother-in-law, Tatyana, is also being tried. "Being prosecuted for your faith in God is unnatural," the believer said.

The Pasynkovs are raising a son with a disability. His illness is incurable. "Timofey is deprived of a normal life. He cannot say what he thinks, what he feels or what he wants," the believer told the court, "he cannot be left alone even for 5 minutes." Yuliya had to travel 150 kilometers from home to the hearings, which made the trial even more exhausting for the whole family. She recalls: "Sometimes I only slept for 3 hours to get there by 10 in the morning. When I returned home, my son would hug me for hours. He could cry for hours in the morning, because he did not see me."

The prosecution concluded that Yuliya had no mitigating circumstances and requested a long suspended sentence with additional restrictions. Nariman Abdokov, a judge of the Khabez District Court, fully supported this position when sentencing her.

The Pasynkovs have been living under prosecution for nearly 4 years. During this period, their home was searched three times. At the same time, a tragedy occurred — Yuliya's parents were hit by a car. "Caring for my mother, my father's funeral, taking care of my son and other difficulties — I could not have gone through all this alone, without my husband," the believer recalls.

Aleksey and Yuliya stated that the difficulties brought their family together. "We had a warm, close relationship before," Aleksey said, "but the prosecution brought us even closer. We spend a lot of time together, trying to console each other, strengthen each other... Especially when we are physically and emotionally drained."

The authorities often subject several family members to repression for their faith: at least 170 of prosecuted Jehovah's Witnesses have at least one relative in similar circumstances.