On April 9, 2019, the Surgut City Court ordered the release of Brothers Yevgeniy Fedin and Sergey Loginov from pretrial detention. This denied the request by Russian authorities to extend their detention. Although the criminal charges against both brothers are still under investigation, they were allowed to leave the detention center on April 11.

Brothers Fedin and Loginov had been detained since February 15, 2019, when they were arrested following mass home raids in the city of Surgut. On that occasion, authorities initiated criminal cases against a total of 19 Witnesses. Three of them, Yevgeniy and Sergey, along with Brother Artur Severinchik, were ordered to remain in pretrial detention. Artur was released earlier on March 15.

During the February raids, law enforcement officers tortured seven of our brothers, including Brother Loginov. A complaint regarding this abusive treatment has been filed with the European Court of Human Rights. The complaint is still under consideration.

We are confident that Jehovah will continue to demonstrate that he is paying close attention to our prayers as he strengthens our faithful brothers and sisters in Russia.—Psalm 10:17.