Case History
In July 2018, searches were carried out at 7 addresses in Blagoveshchensk as part of a criminal case against local believers. A little over 1 year later, Obukhov, an investigator of the FSB Directorate for the Amur Region, initiated a criminal case against Anton Olshevskiy and Sergey Yermilov on suspicion of participating in extremist activity. In September 2020, Adam Svarichevskiy, Sergey Afanasiyev and Sergey Kardakov (his home was searched) also became defendants in this case. In March 2021, the charges against the believers were changed: all five were changed with organizing the activity of an extremist organization, and Afanasiyev was also charged with financing it. In September 2021, the case against the believers went to court. A year and 2 months later, the court found the believers guilty of extremism and sentenced Afanasiyev to 6.5 years, Kardakov to 6 years and 4 months, and Yermilov, Olshevskiy and Svarichevskiy to 6 years and 3 months in a penal colony. The courts of appeal and cassation upheld the verdict.