Prayer is outlawed: Jehovah's Witness in Crimea is sentenced

The occupation court in Kerch sentenced local Vitaliy Burik to 6 years in prison in a general regime penal colony. The reason for such a harsh sentence was the man's religious activities, which Russian justice qualified as 'organizing the activities of an extremist organization'.

This is reported by the Crimean Tatar Resource Center with reference to the website of Jehovah's Witnesses.

The man, who was born in Svatove and devoted more than 30 years of his life to the religious community , met his wife Halyna in this community, with whom he now raises two daughters, one of whom has a disability. Vitaliy's persecution began in October 2024, when security forces detained him right at his workplace and searched his apartment in front of his minor child.

After several days in a pre-trial detention center and prolonged house arrest, the trial, which began in June 2025, ended with Burik's family being separated for six years on charges that human rights activists call exclusively religious persecution.

It should be reminded that under the occupation, any manifestations of 'otherness' from the system are still severely punished in the legal field. Earlier in Yevpatoria, security forces seized the Khan-Jami mosque. The attack on the 16th century monument shows that not only communities but also objects of cultural and historical significance are under systemic pressure.

The Religious Administration of Muslims of Ukraine emphasizes that the violent invasion of the historic Khan Jami Mosque by Russian security forces, supported by the Kremlin-controlled DUMK, cannot be considered an ordinary conflict between communities or the formal execution of court orders. It is important to understand the essence of the events correctly: this is a planned action aimed at completely subordinating Muslim life in Crimea to the occupation power vertical, using the long-standing strategy of "divide and conquer.

Катерина Глушко