Jehovah’s Witnesses flee Russia

Daniel, left, who asked that his last name not be used for fear of his family’s safety, lives in the same cottage in a refugee center in Konnunsuo, Finland, as Alin Tovmasian, right. They are both Jehovah’s Witnesses who fled Russia because of religious persecution.

Jehovah’s Witnesses Anya Kotelnikova, 28, shown with her husband, Sergei Kotelnikov, 31, and their daughter, Emily, chat with friends in a cottage at a refugee center in Konnunsuo, Finland. Anya was pregnant when they fled northern Russia 18 months ago.

Harri Ikonen, a member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses community in Konnunsuo, Finland, has been helping Russian Jehovah’s Witnesses seeking asylum in his country. He regularly drives the asylum-seekers to a nearby Kingdom Hall worship center.

A number of Russian Jehovah’s Witnesses seeking asylum live in cottages at a refugee center in Konnunsuo, Finland. The cottages once housed workers from a nearby prison.

Alin Tovmasian, left, talks to his cottage mate, Daniel, who asked that his last name not be used for safety reasons. The two men and their wives, all Jehovah Wittnesses, share a cottage at the refugee center in Konnunsuo, Finland.

Shown is a room in a cottage at the refugee center in Konnunsuo, Finland.

Alin Tovmasian, 35, is among the roughly 250 Russian Jehovah’s Witnesses seeking asylum in Finland.

Shown is the Jehovah’s Witnesses Kingdom Hall in Lappenranta, Finland. Local members of the faith worship at the hall with Russian refugees fleeing religious persecution.