Biography
In February 2020, during mass raids on the homes of civilians in the Trans-Baikal Territory, several male believers were detained for 5 days. One of them is Sergey Kirilyuk. What is known about him?
Sergey was born in 1972 in Cheremkhovo (Irkutsk region). He grew up in the village in a large family with six children. After school, he mastered the specialty of a welder. In 1992, Sergey married Olga, the couple had three children.
In the late 1990s, Olga discovered the depth of the Bible and interested Sergey. Soon the couple decided to lead a Christian lifestyle.
At the time of the raid, the eldest sons lived separately from their parents, and the youngest, minor child lives with his parents. Olga has serious health problems, she has a II disability group. The search, arrest and criminal case brought alarm and added difficulties to the life of Sergey and his family.
Case History
Vladimir Ermolaev, Aleksandr Putintsev, Sergey Kirilyuk and Igor Mamalimov faced prosecution for their faith in 2020, when security forces carried out 50 searches in Chita and other cities in Transbaikalia. During the raid, several believers were detained and two were tortured. Mamalimov, Kirilyuk and Ermolaev were placed in a temporary detention facility, where they spent several days. At some point, four more believers were suspects in the case, but their criminal prosecution was discontinued. For holding peaceful religious services, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation accused Ermolaev, Putintsev, Mamalimov and Kirilyuk of organizing the activity of an extremist organization. Despite the fact that there were no victims in the case and there was no evidence of crimes against the state and the individual, in 2022 the court sentenced Vladimir Ermolaev, Aleksandr Putintsev and Igor Mamalimov to imprisonment in a penal colony for 6 to 6.5 years, and Sergey Kirilyuk - to 6 years suspended. The court of appeal upheld this verdict. The courts of appeal and cassation did not change this verdict. In 2024, the criminal prosecution of Kutsenko resumed.
