OCTOBER 31, 2023 | UPDATED: FEBRUARY 5, 2025
RUSSIA

UPDATE—BROTHER IMPRISONED | “Do Not Look at the Windstorm”

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On February 4, 2025, the Sovietskiy District Court of Krasnodar convicted Brother Aleksey Lelikov and sentenced him to six years and five months in prison. He was taken into custody from the courtroom.

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Aleksey Lelikov

Born: 1960 (Krasnodar, Krasnodar Territory)

Biography: Worked as a music teacher

Married Irina in 1979. They have a son and a daughter

Aleksey and Irina were both atheists. He had become disillusioned with human reasoning. Began to study the Bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses as a family. Both baptized in 1994

Personal Comments

What has helped you to cope with anxiety?

A few months after the investigation began, I realized that I was often worrying about what was going to happen and even pitying myself a bit. I was like Peter, who started looking at the windstorm. (Matthew 14:30) One night, I felt particularly anxious. I started praying intensely, begging Jehovah to calm my heart. I slept peacefully that night. In the morning, however, I felt the same anxiety setting in. I prayed again and worked hard to control my thinking. I reminded myself: ‘Jehovah and Jesus are my friends, and I need to give proof of my friendship with them by being courageous and steadfast. Do not worry about what tomorrow may bring. Do not look at the windstorm.’ It is even more clear to me now that no one can give us peace and calmness like Jehovah can.

The examples of endurance we find throughout our brotherhood strengthen our faith in Jehovah’s promise to ‘calm the windstorm’ of anxieties that we may face.—Psalm 107:28, 29.

Time Line

January 20, 2022

Criminal case initiated
January 28, 2022

Lelikovs’ home searched. Aleksey taken for interrogation and released the same day
February 16, 2023

Criminal trial began

Jehovah’s Witnesses

UPDATE—BROTHER IMPRISONED | “Do Not Look at the Windstorm”

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Time Line

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