Biography
Mikhail Shevchuk is a fourth-generation Jehovah's Witness. He and his younger brother Aleksandr were persecuted for their Christian beliefs, just like their ancestors who were exiled to Siberia for their faith.
Mikhail was born in November 1986 in the village of Goryachevodskiy, Stavropol Territory. From early childhood, he was a sympathetic and hardworking child. In his teenage years, he helped his mother sew clothes for sale. In 2005, he graduated with honors from the College of the Pyatigorsk Institute of the North Caucasus Federal University with a degree in sewing technology.
In 2006, Mikhail moved to Saransk, where he worked in the furniture industry—first as an assembler, and later as a designer. He is creative in his work and likes to solve non-standard tasks. In his free time, he reads, chats with friends, relaxes in nature, plays chess and sometimes bakes cakes for family and friends.
In 2013, Mikhail married Yaroslavna. They have a strong marriage, and, according to the couple, they do everything together. Yaroslavna told what she felt when Mikhail was arrested: "We have a very strong, close bond. And when it is destroyed, it feels like the heart is being torn apart."
Mikhail's great-great-grandmother was the first in the Shevchuk family to start studying the Bible in 1936. Parents instilled moral values in their children, and at a young age they embarked on the Christian path. Love for people and the desire to remain a peaceful person prompted Mikhail to ask for the replacement of military service with an alternative civilian one, but he was exempted from conscription for health reasons.
For several years, the couple Shevchuk took care of Yaroslavna's seriously ill grandmother, and at the time of the search she lived with them. Yaroslavna talks about the sad consequences of what happened: "My grandmother experienced a lot of stress during the search. She was almost 91. She could not calm down in the last six months. My heart could not stand it."
In 2017, when the ruling to liquidate the legal entities of Jehovah's Witnesses was issued, Mikhail and his wife personally attended the court session at the Supreme Court and heard the statement that the decision would not affect in any way the right of believers to practice their religion. However, he was later prosecuted for not renouncing his Christian views.