Biography
Robert Ishberdin was born in 1979 in Sibay, Bashkiria. He has two younger sisters. Their father worked most of his life as an excavator operator in a quarry, and their mother worked as the head of a kindergarten. Now their parents are retired.
As a child, Robert was interested in natural sciences — he participated in school competitions in chemistry and biology, winning prizes, and receiving awards. He raised rabbits and also liked photography. He loved skiing, and from a young age was active in school events.
After school, he graduated from the Faculty of Economics of the Bashkiria State University in Sibay. Robert worked as a workforce planning specialist and accounting software consultant. Recently, he has been working as a landscape gardener.
Robert became interested in the Bible in 1996, when he was in the 11th grade. He was deeply affected by the Bible's statement that "the whole world is in the power of the wicked one [Satan]," which helped him to understand the reasons for what was happening in the world. The young man was especially impressed by God's promise to restore the ecological balance on earth. In 1999, he was baptized as one of Jehovah's Witnesses.
In 2002, the military registration and enlistment office decided to call Robert up for military service. However, guided by his beliefs, he refused to undergo military training. After lengthy legal proceedings, he was granted the right to alternative civilian service when it was introduced in Russia. He completed it in a nursing home for the elderly and disabled in the Moscow Region.
Over the years, Robert lived in Bashkortostan; in the Moscow, Tver, and Orenburg Regions. And in 2015, he moved to Naberezhnye Chelny, Tatarstan Republic, to be closer to his parents and other relatives in Bashkiria.
In 2019, Robert married Olga, who shares his values. She works as a nanny and housekeeper. The couple is creative. In her free time, Olga likes rattan weaving, creating jewelry, macramé, and knitting. She is also interested in psychology. Robert likes writing poetry. Together, they like being outdoors — walking in the pine forest near their house, traveling and rafting on the rivers of Bashkiria. They often visit their parents and help them with work around the house. Furthermore, Robert and Olga are learning sign language to communicate with Deaf people.
Robert said that after the search, their life changed: "Traveling and other dreams will have to wait for now. For a period after the search, we felt anxious and depressed, and ordinary things became very difficult." Nevertheless, the couple have not lost a positive outlook and maintain peace of mind.