In Smolensk, two more women were sent to a pre-trial detention center for their faith

On May 18, 2019, the judge of the Leninsky District Court of Smolensk, Lyudmila Kuzub, decided to detain two women for a period of 2 months: Tatyana Galkevich and 63-year-old Valentina Vladimirova. Prior to that, both were searched.

Although Valentina Vladimirova was detained under the pretext of stealing from the prosecutor's house, during the interrogation the investigator immediately began to ask prepared questions about her religion. A case was opened against the women under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in extremist activities). Then her house was searched, interrogated, and electronic devices were seized.

Smolensk law enforcement officers, following their colleagues in other Russian cities, claim that peaceful believers are engaged in "organizing extremist activities," while they only privately read the Bible and prayed. The Russian government confirmed that the decisions of the Russian courts "do not contain a restriction or prohibition to practice individually the above teachings [of Jehovah's Witnesses]."

Vladimirova and Galkevich became the seventh and eighth defendants in criminal cases against Jehovah's Witnesses in Smolensk. At the end of April 2019, four believers were sent to the pre-trial detention center, and before that, Maria Troshina and Natalia Sorokina spent 191 days behind bars.