Freedom for 5 Minutes — Vardan Zakaryan Has Served His Sentence for His Faith and Awaits Deportation to Armenia

On October 13, 2025, Vardan Zakaryan's imprisonment came to an end. After leaving the penal colony, he met his friends who had come to support him. The long-awaited meeting lasted only about 5 minutes — the believer was taken to a deportation center, where he is awaiting removal to his homeland.

In total, Zakaryan spent almost 5 years in various forms of detention. It all started with a violent search of his home in Moscow, after which the believer was hospitalized with concussion. He has not been free since: from the hospital he was taken to a temporary detention facility, then he was placed under house arrest for 2.5 years, after that about a year in a Moscow pretrial detention center and the rest of the term in penal colony No. 4 in Torzhok.

Conditions in the penal colony were not easy: constant interruptions with the hot water; food was scarce. Food parcels from friends and the penal colony store helped to brighten up everyday life. Vardan also had health problems: a trophic ulcer opened on his leg — so serious that doctors spoke of the risk of amputation. Surgery was avoided, thanks to the help of friends who provided the necessary medicines. During his detention Vardan never stopped worrying about his relatives: caring for his family and his bedridden mother fell on the shoulders of his wife.

Zakaryan is a highly skilled tailor with more than 30 years experience. He earned the respect of both the penal colony administration and other prisoners due to his skills and hard work. Over time, Vardan was assigned to train others in sewing.

Four more of Zakaryan's fellow believers, convicted in the same criminal case, continue serving their sentences in penal colonies.