Three Years Under Strict Conditions for His Faith. Pavel Kazadayev Released

On August 14, 2026, Pavel Kazadayev, a 29-year-old resident of Novokuznetsk and one of Jehovah's Witnesses, was released from the penal colony in Rubtsovsk, Altai Territory. He was convicted for discussing the Bible with his friends. The believer spent all three years of his imprisonment under strict conditions.

Pavel was taken into custody on the day of his appeal in August 2023 — that day, his 3-year suspended sentence was replaced with actual imprisonment. "I was not allowed to take any belongings with me; they took me as I was — in my suit, jacket, and tie. On the way to the pretrial detention center, they gathered defendants from various courts. People saw that I had nothing. One person gave me a towel, another — a spoon, a mug, and a container. As a result, when I arrived at the detention center, I already had everything I needed: something to eat with and something to cover myself with at night," Pavel shared, recalling that day.

Upon arrival at the penal colony, the believer was placed in the punishment cell, and his stay there was repeatedly extended. Later, he was transferred to a cell-type facility (CTF). At the same time, according to Darya, Pavel's wife, he was treated with respect: staff would greet him with a handshake and address him by name. In the penal institution, Pavel was responsible for receiving and issuing clothing and personal belongings to other prisoners.

The strict regime significantly limited visits from loved ones. During his first year of imprisonment, the break between extended visits was 7 months. Later, the Kazadayevs were allowed to see each other once every 2 months. Darya recalls: "We wrote letters to each other every day, no matter the circumstances." His wife was not the only one to write to Pavel — hundreds of letters with words of support arrived from different countries.

Pavel coped with difficulties by keeping busy: he maintained his routine, read the Bible twice a day, replied to correspondence, prayed for the people he wrote to, and tried to share encouraging thoughts with them. A year before his release, Pavel gave his wife a homemade calendar with drawings and warm words. It marked how many days remained until his return home. "Pasha asked me to write various ideas in it about how I would like to spend time together so that after his release we could make these plans come true," Darya said.

Looking back on his years in prison, Pavel said: "I learned that when things do not go according to plan, you need to stay calm and trust in God because He has everything under control."

The criminal case against Kazadayev was initiated in May 2021. The investigation regarded his participation in meetings for worship and in discussing the Bible with fellow believers as "participating in the activity of an extremist organization." In April 2023, the court of first instance gave him a 3-year suspended sentence, but in August of the same year, the court of appeal replaced this punishment with actual imprisonment.