Biography
Friends, neighbors, and acquaintances know Igor Shmidt from Sevastopol as a man with an impeccable reputation—a loyal friend, a responsible person, and someone always ready to help. However, the peaceful Christian's ordinary life was disrupted due to a search of his home and his arrest. Igor was charged with extremism and placed behind bars in the fall of 2020. Later, the court sent him to a penal colony. The believer was released in the fall of 2026 after more than five years of imprisonment.
Igor was born in 1972 in Laryak, Tyumen Region. After finishing school, he graduated from a technical school in Nizhnevartovsk. He worked as a self-employed entrepreneur. In 2001, he moved to Sevastopol. In his free time, he enjoys being outdoors, spending time by the sea, and traveling to scenic spots around Crimea.
Igor learned about the Bible from his mother. He was impressed by how her knowledge from this book changed her life: his mother became more joyful, and association with fellow believers had a positive effect on her. These changes in his mother prompted Igor to become better acquainted with the Holy Scriptures. In 2005, he was baptized.
Igor's sister, friends, and acquaintances do not understand why this peaceful man was considered a dangerous criminal and sent to a penal colony for believing in Jehovah God.