New Searches in the Kurgan Region. Believer Under Investigation Whose Husband and Daughter Are Prisoners of Conscience

On September 22, 2026, searches were carried out in the homes of Jehovah's Witnesses in the Petukhovskiy District, affecting at least five people. Four believers were interrogated regarding the Aleksandr Gaytur case. Several weeks earlier, a criminal case was initiated against his wife, Svetlana, for her faith.

The search warrant for the Gaytur family's apartment was issued by Judge Yevgeniy Kolegov of the Kurgan City Court. Law enforcement officers led by Investigator S. Grachev searched the homes of Jehovah's Witnesses for religious literature, electronic storage devices, and mobile phones. None of the believers were detained.

Svetlana Gaytur became the third member of the family against whom a criminal case has been initiated: Aleksandr has been under prosecution since 2023, and their daughter, Anastasiya, was fined for her faith.

In Kurgan and Shadrinsk, at least eleven criminal cases have been initiated over the past five years; these include the cases of Isakov, Skudaev, Lubin, and others. Verdicts have already been delivered in most of these cases.