Name: Shitov Radion Stanislavovich
Date of Birth: September 23, 1972
Current status: convicted person
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (1)
Current restrictions: obligation to appear

Biography

In May 2023, Radion Shitov, an educational psychologist who has been working with children with disabilities for many years, was accused of extremism because of his faith in Jehovah God.

Radion was born in 1972 in Komsomolsk-on-Amur. The parents are no longer alive. In his youth, Radion loved to play football, was fond of playing chess.

After school, Radion graduated from the Pedagogical Institute, where he received the profession of an educational psychologist and a biology teacher. For some time he worked in his specialty at school, but most of his life—in kindergarten.

In the 1990s, Radion began to study the Bible and, as a biologist, became convinced that the diversity of the living world and the complexity of human and animal organisms testify to the existence of a Creator. In 1998, he firmly decided to embark on the Christian path.

After 3 months, Radion married Yana. She shares his views on life. Yana works as an administrator in a hairdresser. In her spare time, she likes to make cards, crafts and skate. The couple has an adult daughter, whom they raised in the spirit of Christian values. She reads a lot and is interested in history, writes stories and is fond of photography. The family loves to spend time together: play board and other games, relax in nature.

The criminal prosecution had a negative impact on the whole family. Radion said: "After the search, the usual rhythm of life was lost. I've been stressed for a while and I'm still on my toes." Relatives and friends of the Shitovs are worried about Radion.

Case History

In May 2023, civilians in the city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, as well as the village of Khurba and the village of Molodezhniy, were subjected to night searches because of their religion. The investigation initiated a criminal case against 10 believers: Vasiliy Bondarev and his mother Irina, Sergey Sachnev and his wife Ulita, Nikolay Kovadnev, Ivan Nikitin, Mikhail Dorofeev, Radion Shitov, Marina Voytko and Svetlana Zharkova. They were charged with involvement in the activities of a banned organization. In 2024, the prosecutor’s office returned the case to the investigator twice. In October of the same year, it went to court. All the defendants were included in the Rosfinmonitoring list, which made it difficult for them to pay bills and dispose of their property. In October 2025, the court sentenced Dorofeev, Kovadnev and Shitov to 6 years of suspended sentence, and the Bondarevs, the Sachnevs, Zharkova, Voytko and Nikitin to 2 years of suspended sentence. Among the convicts are 5 people over 60.
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