Andrzej Oniszczuk, a Polish citizen and one of our dear brothers, has been in pretrial detention in Russia since security forces arrested him on October 9, 2018. His detention was recently extended for the fifth time. His new term is scheduled to end on October 2, just days short of a year incarcerated.

Since being detained, Andrzej has been held in solitary confinement. From 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., he is not permitted to lie down. He is only allowed to take a shower with hot water once a week for 15 minutes. Andrzej’s wife, Anna, has not been allowed to visit Andrzej for the ten months he has been in detention. They can only communicate by mail. She has submitted numerous requests to visit Andrzej, but each time she has been denied.

As previously reported, Andrzej was arrested after local police and masked special forces raided his home and 18 others in Kirov. A criminal case was opened against Andrzej for singing Kingdom songs and studying religious literature.

Along with Andrzej, four other brothers from Kirov (44-year-old Maksim Khalturin, 66-year-old Vladimir Korobeynikov, 26-year-old Andrey Suvorkov, and 41-year-old Evgeniy Suvorkov) were arrested last year and placed in pretrial detention. They have since been placed under house arrest. Andrzej’s case, together with these four, is pending with the European Court of Human Rights.

This year, Russian authorities have opened criminal cases against seven more brothers from Kirov—the oldest is 70-year-old Yevgeniy Udintsev. A total of 12 Jehovah’s Witnesses in Kirov are now facing criminal charges for practicing their faith.

Regarding Andrzej, Anna, and the rest of our dear Russian brothers and sisters, may we never forget the inspired reminder: “Keep in mind those in prison, as though you were imprisoned with them, and those being mistreated, since you yourselves also are in the body.”—Hebrews 13:3.