On January 19, 2022, the Severskiy City Court of the Tomsk Region in Russia convicted Aleksey Yershov to 3 years in prison, to begin immediately, for practicing his faith as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

On March 30, 2021, Yershov was formally charged based on video recordings made by a person who pretended to be interested in studying the Bible but used those recordings to hand over to the FSB (Russia’s secret police). Practicing their faith as one of Jehovah's’ Witnesses is illegal in Russia since the Bible Student group was officially banned in the country in 2017, following in the steps of Hitler and the Soviet Union.

On June 22, 2021, his criminal case was submitted to the Severskiy City Court of the Tomsk Region until the recent sentencing of 3 years in prison.