28 October 2025
A 70-year-old Jehovah’s Witness sentenced to a suspended term of 6 years and 3 months in occupied Crimea
On October 17, 2025, in the temporarily occupied Crimea, the Russia-controlled Rozdolne District Court sentenced 70-year-old Tamara Brattseva, finding her guilty of “organizing the activities of an extremist organization” — the religious community of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The woman was given a suspended sentence of 6 years and 3 months of imprisonment.
In August 2024, searches were carried out in the homes of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Rozdolne, Senokosne, and Alushta, during which electronic devices and personal notes were seized. The occupation authorities demanded a real prison sentence of 6 years and 4 months for Tamara Brattseva, which the defendant’s lawyer described as a moral collapse, since the woman’s “guilt” consisted of praying, reading the Bible, and striving to live according to her conscience.
Tamara Brattseva, who has lived in Rozdolne for over 40 years and worked as an occupational safety engineer for 35 years, stated in court: “If I were engaged in extremism, I could not remain one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, because I would no longer meet the standards of the Bible.” During the hearings, her health deteriorated due to her husband’s serious illness. The couple has been married for over 50 years; after a car accident, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor and hematoma.Over the past seven years, at least 30 people in Crimea have faced persecution for their religious beliefs.
This verdict represents another example of the systematic violations of human rights and freedom of religion in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. The occupation administration continues its repressive policy against local residents, equating religious practice with “extremism.”
Ukraine calls on the international community to strongly condemn these actions, demand an immediate end to persecution, and ensure the release of all persons unlawfully detained on religious grounds.
Freedom of religion will only be possible after the de-occupation of Ukrainian territories.