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Five Jehovah’s Witnesses Arrested in Russia, Accused of Running ‘Extremist’ Group

The country’s Supreme Court banned the Christian denomination last year.

Five Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia were charged Wednesday for allegedly “possessing weapons and running an extremist group” after investigators claimed they found “two grenades and a landmine” while searching their homes, according to an AFP report. The five were reportedly arrested in Russia’s northeastern Kirov region and accused of operating and financing an “extremist organization.” The country’s Supreme Court banned the Christian denomination, which originated in the U.S., from operating in Russia last year, and authorities reportedly consider the movement to be “a totalitarian sect.” There are reportedly about 170,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia, and thousands of the church’s members have reportedly fled to other countries.