Name: Sabodash Miroslav Ivanovich
Date of Birth: April 8, 1979
Current status: defendant
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (2)
Time spent in prison: 2 day in a temporary detention facility
Current restrictions: prohibition of certain actions

Biography

In only 3 months a series of events took place in the life of Miroslav Sabodash – surgery due to serious illness, a search of his home during the rehabilitation period and a criminal case because of his faith.

Miroslav was born in April 1979 in the village of Pyshchatyntsi (Ukraine). When he was six months old, his parents divorced, and Miroslav, his mother and older sister moved to Ivangorod, Leningrad Region. His mother worked all her life in production of electrical windings. She raised three children, including Miroslav's younger brother, on her own.

As a child, Miroslav loved visiting the countryside and walking in the woods, thanks to which he fell in love with nature. He also liked reading books, especially science fiction, imagining a world without enmity and anxiety.

After school, he moved to Murmansk to his sister's, where he graduated from the trade and economic college with a degree in catering technology. After that he served in the Northern Fleet as a baker on a ship. After working for five years as a cook on various long-haul vessels, Miroslav returned to his native Ivangorod. There he worked as a waiter, a baker, a press brake operator and a repairman in a chemical plant.

In 2005 Miroslav started studying the Bible and found convincing evidence in it that the world around him is the result of the work of a brilliant Engineer. Three years later, he became one of Jehovah's Witnesses.

In 2014, Miroslav married Yelena, who shares his views on life. Together they raised two daughters from her first marriage. Yelena has a higher technical education. Recently, she has been working in the cleaning industry. The couple love traveling together, visiting museums and beautiful places, spending time with friends and learning new things from nature.

The family experienced stress because of the criminal prosecution. Relatives who do not share their religious beliefs worry about the Sabodash family.

Case History

At the end of February 2023, 7 searches were carried out in the cities of Kingisepp and Slantsy (Leningrad Region). The Investigative Committee opened a criminal case under an extremist article against Kirill Khabrik, Igor Zhmyrev and other unidentified persons. Charges were also brought against Andrey Morozov, Sergey Ryabokon and Yevgeniy Poveshchenko. The latter was put under a preventive measure in the form of a written undertaking not to leave, and the rest were placed in a pre-trial detention center, where they spent from 9 to 11 months. At the end of March, searches were again carried out in Kingisepp. 11 other believers were interrogated. Five more people became defendants in the criminal case: Miroslav Sabodash, Igor Shevlyuga, Tatyana Stepanova, Aleksandr Vaganov and Konstantsiya Vovk. They were placed in a temporary detention facility, but soon everyone was released, except for Igor Shevlyuga, who spent a month in a pre-trial detention center. In May 2024, the case went to court.