On July 1, 2021, the Metallurgichesky District Court of Chelyabinsk convicted 75-year-old Brother Vladimir Suvorov and imposed a six-year suspended prison sentence.

Vladimir Suvorov

• Born: 1946 (Chelyabinsk)

• Biography: Was a machinist and a theater actor. Also worked as deputy director of a Soviet House of Culture. Loves to write songs and play the guitar

  Married Valentina in 1973. Baptized as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses in 1993. The couple had a son, Igor, who died of cancer in 2014

On January 16, 2020, in Chelyabinsk, a criminal case was launched against 75-year-old Brother Vladimir Suvorov. The investigator for the Chelyabinsk Region has accused Vladimir of organizing religious services, including singing religious songs, praying, and discussing the Bible.

In February 2020, officers began interrogating Vladimir and restricted him from traveling. On June 17, 2020, he was formally charged. Vladimir explains that the difficulties stemming from these injustices have been among the hardest trials in his life. But he states: “Our God, Jehovah, has never abandoned us . . . Our relationship with Jehovah is continuously becoming stronger. Valentina and I feel his helping hand on us. He supplies encouragement, strength, and comfort through our dear brothers and sisters, even those who are not in our own congregation.”

On March 11, 2021, 73-year-old Valentina was convicted and given a two-year suspended prison sentence by the same court now hearing Vladimir’s case. They both remain confident a that Jehovah continues to be by their side to support them.—Psalm 118:6.