Biography
Nikolay Kononenko became a defendant in the criminal case in 2022, a year and a half after his co-religionists from the Khabarovsk Territory. For his convictions, the man was sentenced to 6 years suspended sentence.
Nikolay was born in January 1982 in Nikolaevsk-on-Amur. His mother raised him alone. She, like her father, is no longer alive. In court, the believer said: "Since childhood, it has been unacceptable for me when a person or an animal is beaten or abused, which, unfortunately, has become commonplace in our time. My mother, although she raised me alone, was able to cultivate in me qualities that helped me to maintain a clear conscience. And I try to raise my children in the same way."
In his youth, Nikolay was fond of chess and radio electronics, a hobby he has retained to this day. He studied at the Technical University. He worked as an electrician, and later as a dispatcher. In his free time, a man likes to go to the gym.
In 1998, Nikolay and his mother became Jehovah's Witnesses. When the young man was 18, he was drafted into the army. He defended his right to alternative civilian service in court, guided by peaceful views.
In 2017, Nikolay met his future wife Olesya. They got married two years later. The couple has a teenage son and a young daughter.
According to the believer, the criminal prosecution undermined his emotional state and physical health. He developed a serious illness. Relatives and friends worry about the Kononenko family and consider the sentence unfair.
Speaking in court with the last plea, Nikolay noted: "When my superiors found out that I was being tried, they did not change their attitude towards me, because they know me as a respectable and law-abiding person. And I can also look him in the eye with a clear conscience. Because conscience is not just a word for me."