Name: Krupnova Maya Leonidovna
Date of Birth: May 11, 1957
Current status: who has served the main sentence
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (2)
Sentence: punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term of 2 years, with restriction of liberty for a term of 8 months; The sentence of imprisonment shall be considered suspended with a probationary period of 3 years

Biography

2020 was a particularly difficult year for Maya Krupnova — she lost her daughter. In the fall, her family faced a search, and a criminal case was opened against Maya for her faith.

Maya was born in May 1957 in the village of Atasu, Karaganda region (Kazakhstan). She is the eldest of four sisters. Their mother died at the age of 66.

As a child, Maya had many-sided interests: she did gymnastics, football, sang in the choir. After school, she immediately went to work: she worked on the plantation, was a milkmaid, a calf, later - a pastry chef, accountant and salesman. Now Maya is retired, loves to take care of the garden and plant flowers.

The first in the family to get acquainted with the Bible was Anna, one of Maya's three daughters. In 2001, mother and daughter decided to embark on the Christian path together. Maya says that she could not come to terms with the death of people, so she was touched by the biblical promise of eternal life. She was also glad to learn from the Bible the personal name of God - Jehovah.

Over time, Maya and Anna moved to Nikolsk, where the family was offered a job. There she met Peter, whom she later married. The spouse works as a plumber, is fond of music, and loves to go out into nature with his family. Anna studies Spanish, enjoys dancing and filming.

Maya says about the criminal prosecution: "I am honored to go through this." Knowing about the religious persecution of peaceful believers in Russia, she understood that this could affect her family as well. Therefore, the search and interrogations were not a surprise for her, but nevertheless it turned out to be great experiences for Maya. The family supports the believer in every possible way, and daughter Anna says she is proud of her mother.

Case History

In October 2020, a criminal case was initiated against Yuriy Kim and unidentified persons for believing in God. Armed security forces raided 4 apartments of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the city of Nikolsk, Penza region. To familiarize himself with the materials on the search, 60-year-old Yuri Kim had to travel 120 kilometers from home. Upon his return, he was paralyzed and lost consciousness. The ambulance doctors did not have time to save him. In September 2021, Maya and Petr Krupnov were charged with participating in extremist activities. It was based on an audio recording made by an FSB agent. A month later, hearings began in the Nikolsky District Court under the chairmanship of Judge Irina Kuznetsova. Many witnesses claimed that their preliminary testimony had been falsified. In December 2021, the court sentenced the spouses to 2 years probation and 8 months of restriction of freedom and ordered them to pay 42,000 rubles in legal costs. The appellate court upheld this decision.