Name: Zhmyrev Igor Yuriyevich
Date of Birth: December 12, 1970
Current status: defendant
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (1)
Time spent in prison: 1 day in a temporary detention facility, 270 day in a pre-trial detention, 18 day Under house arrest
Current restrictions: recognizance agreement

Biography

Igor Zhmyrev is a former police officer, and now a peaceful believer, against whom a criminal case was initiated for reading the Bible. He was placed in a pre-trial detention center in February 2023.

Igor was born in December 1970 in the city of Kingisepp, Leningrad Region, where he lived until his arrest. He has two older sisters. His parents are no longer alive. As a child, Igor read a lot and loved to play hockey.

After school and military service, Igor worked as a policeman. At the same time, he led a hand-to-hand combat club. Prior to his arrest, he worked as a supervisor at the Center for the Protection of Industrial Objects.

Igor is interested in contemporary art and interior design, and he still loves to read. In time, he became interested in the Bible. He thoroughly examined this book and found that it answered his questions. In 1993, he made the decision to become one of Jehovah's Witnesses.

In the same year, Igor married Tatyana, whom he met at work. In her youth, she was involved in track and field sports, but she had to quit due to an injury. Tatyana is an accountant, and for many years she worked in this field. Tatyana became interested in Bible teachings while studying in Saint Petersburg, and in 1993, just like Igor, she began her journey as a Christian.

Bible knowledge helped the married couple raise their son in harmony with Christian values. After school, he immediately began to work. In his spare time, he plays sports. Igor and Tatyana love taking walks together.

The quiet life of the family was disrupted when security forces raided and searched their home. They seized all the money, bank cards, documents, and electronic devices, and they arrested Igor. His wife and son were left without him. They try to stay positive and to view the situation as an opportunity to build their faith and endurance.

Case History

At the end of February 2023, 7 searches were carried out in the cities of Kingisepp and Slantsy (Leningrad Region). The Investigative Committee opened a criminal case under an extremist article against Kirill Khabrik, Igor Zhmyrev and other unidentified persons. Charges were also brought against Andrey Morozov, Sergey Ryabokon and Yevgeniy Poveshchenko. The latter was put under a preventive measure in the form of a written undertaking not to leave, and the rest were placed in a pre-trial detention center, where they spent from 9 to 11 months. At the end of March, searches were again carried out in Kingisepp. 11 other believers were interrogated. Five more people became defendants in the criminal case: Miroslav Sabodash, Igor Shevlyuga, Tatyana Stepanova, Aleksandr Vaganov and Konstantsiya Vovk. They were placed in a temporary detention facility, but soon everyone was released, except for Igor Shevlyuga, who spent a month in a pre-trial detention center. In May 2024, the case went to court.