On January 25, 2021, the Supreme Court of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic denied the prosecutor’s appeal of the original October 7, 2020, verdict that found Brother Yuriy Zalipayev not guilty. The prosecution may choose to appeal this latest ruling. However, the not-guilty verdict is now enforced. Yuriy has been acquitted of all charges. He now has the right to seek compensation for being wrongfully accused.

Yuriy trusted in Jehovah and was courageous in court even though he knew that his not-guilty verdict could be overturned. Just before the ruling, Yuriy boldly told the court how God will soon end all wickedness, including the persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia. He said: “No matter how sophisticated these attacks may be, there is something these persecutors need to understand. They will not succeed in their attempts to undermine my faith in God’s promises of an imminent end to wickedness on the earth. I have faith in the promise that very soon all people of different nationalities will realize at long last that they are brothers and sisters. There is nothing that truly divides them. The Bible says about God: ‘He will render judgment among the nations and set matters straight respecting many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning shears. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, nor will they learn war anymore.’—Isaiah 2:4.

“I am convinced that this promise is near at hand!”