Name: Zharkova Svetlana Nikolayevna
Date of Birth: May 3, 1964
Current status: convicted person
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (2)
Current restrictions: obligation to appear
Sentence: imprisonment for a period of 2 years, with deprivation of the right to engage in activities related to leadership and participation in the work of public organizations (associations) for a period of 3 years, imprisonment be considered conditional with a probationary period of 2 years

Biography

A resident of the village of Khurba, located near Komsomolsk-on-Amur, was accused of extremism—a criminal case was opened against pensioner Svetlana Zharkova for believing in God.

Svetlana was born in 1964 in the village of Khurba, Khabarovsk Territory. She grew up in a single-parent family: her mother raised two daughters alone. As a child, Svetlana loved skiing and cycling, being in nature, going hiking with classmates or walking in the forest. After school, Svetlana graduated from medical school, and worked in this field until her retirement.

Svetlana is married and has two adult sons who live separately. There are already grandchildren whom the woman helps to take care of.

Svetlana's interest in the Bible arose in 2001. Then she, along with her mother, who is no longer alive, began to read this book. At the time of initiation of the criminal case, Svetlana was not one of Jehovah's Witnesses. She likes to communicate with believers, she appreciates their respectful, sincere and kind attitude towards each other and others.

The criminal prosecution and the possibility that Svetlana could end up behind bars because of her beliefs caused anxiety in her family.

Case History

In May 2023, the homes of peaceful residents in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, as well as in Khurba and Molodezhniy, were searched during the night on religious grounds. The investigation initiated a criminal case against 10 believers: Vasiliy Bondarev and his mother Irina, Sergey and Ulita Sachnev, Nikolay Kovadnev, Ivan Nikitin, Mikhail Dorofeev, Radion Shitov, Marina Voytko and Svetlana Zharkova. They were charged with involving others in the activity of a banned organization. In 2024, the prosecutor’s office returned the case to the investigator twice. In October of the same year, the case went to court. All the defendants were added to the Rosfinmonitoring list, which made it difficult for them to pay bills and manage their assets. In October 2025, the court gave suspended sentences of 6 years to Dorofeev, Kovadnev and Shitov and 2 years to the Bondarevs, the Sachnevs, Zharkova, Voytko and Nikitin. Among the convicted persons, five are over 60.
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