Biography
Viktor Timoshchenko, a retiree from Mayna, endured a search, pressure from security officers, a nervous breakdown, and was placed in a pretrial detention center for three months for his faith in the fall of 2025. While he was behind bars, his mother passed away.
Viktor was born in Krasnoyarsk into a working-class family. He has a younger sister. His father was a tool-and-die maker, and his mother a seamstress.
From his school years, he was involved in hiking and rock climbing: together with friends, he went on trips through the protected areas of Krasnoyarsk Territory. During this period, he also became passionate about photography—this hobby taught him to notice and appreciate the beauty of nature.
After army service, Viktor moved to his grandmother's home in the settlement of Mayna, where he worked as a carpenter/concrete worker on the construction of the Sayano‑Shushenskaya Hydroelectric Power Plant. He then worked as a driver for 18 years, half of that time with an ambulance service. Later, due to health issues, he had to change professions. He trained as a massage therapist and worked in that field for more than 20 years.
From a young age, Viktor reflected on the origin of life. Over time, questions began to trouble him: Why am I living? How can I understand what is evil and what is good? Jehovah's Witnesses helped him find answers to these questions in the Bible. He was baptized in 1993.
Ten years later, Viktor married Marina, who shares his values. The couple have many common interests: they love to travel, go river‑rafting with friends or just the two of them almost every year, cherish the chance to sit by a campfire under the starry sky, hike in the mountains, and cook together. They have four children and six grandchildren. Viktor loves organizing family outings to strengthen the warm bonds among his loved ones.
The believer was arrested at his mother's home; she required constant care due to a hip fracture and Alzheimer's disease. She died a month and a half later, while Viktor was in the pretrial detention center.
Under stress, he developed hypertension. "To support me," Viktor recalls, "my sons wrote these words: 'Dad, you are not a criminal. We grew up on your example of kindness and calm, and we are raising our children by your principles.'"