Name: Skachidub Vladimir Yuriyevich
Date of Birth: December 4, 1961
Current status: convicted person
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (2), 282.2 (1.1)
Time spent in prison: 191 day in a pre-trial detention, 962 day in prison
Sentence: punishment in the form of imprisonment for 4 years and 2 months, with deprivation of the right to engage in activities related to the organization and participation in public associations, groups for a term of 3 years, with restriction of liberty for a term of 2 years; with serving a sentence of deprivation of liberty in a penal colony of general regime
Currently held in: Correctional Colony No. 6 of the Ryazan Region
Address for correspondence: Skachidub Vladimir Yuriyevich, born 1961, Correctional Colony No. 6 of the Ryazan Region, poselok Stenkino, Ryazan district, Ryazan region, 390506

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Note: discussing topics related to criminal prosecution is not allowed in letters; languages other than Russian will not pass.

Biography

In his youth, Vladimir Skachidub had to experience many difficulties. At the age of 25, after the death of his parents, he became the guardian of his 15-year-old sister, and in 2003 she died of leukemia. In 2020, a criminal case was opened against him for believing in God, thanks to whom he put his life in order.

Vladimir was born in December 1961 in the village of Pavlovskaya. Even as a child, his mother wanted to instill in her son a love of music and sent him to a music school in the accordion class. Musical education was not in vain, and he independently mastered the guitar. Even at school he was fond of photography.

After graduating from school, Vladimir got a job as an apprentice of a turner at the Pavlovsky automobile plant and received the specialty of a turner of the 2nd category. After serving in the army, he entered the Taganrog Radio Engineering Institute, but the riotous student life did not lead to anything good - Vladimir was expelled on the second year. He had to get a job as a turner at the Taganrog plant "Vibropribor". The plans were to continue studying at the correspondence department, but the death of his parents changed everything. After the tragedy, he had to return to his native village, to his sister. There he again got a job as a turner at the Pavlovsky car repair plant (now the Pavlovsky Experimental Plant LLC).

For the first time, Vladimir heard about the Bible from his future wife Galina, who he met with the help of his sister Natalia. The women then became acquainted with Jehovah's Witnesses and began to study the Bible more deeply. Vladimir often asked his sister about the teachings from this book. He was impressed by the way the Bible explains creation. In the past, Vladimir and Galina were fond of drinking alcoholic beverages and tobacco smoking, studying the Bible, they realized that they needed to change. In 1997, the couple legalized their relationship by getting married. Later, in the late 90s, Vladimir dedicated his life to God, and Galina joined her husband in 2016, when she was able to completely overcome bad habits.

Galina is a sociable person, she loves to cultivate flowers. She worked as a cheese maker. Vladimir likes to read the Bible and play the guitar in his free time. Vladimir is a disabled person of the III group, and Galina has disability of II group. Persecution for the faith aggravates the health of the spouses, but they try not to lose heart: "Without the Bible, we would not only be able to overcome everything, but we would hardly be alive at all."

Case History

In April 2020, the security forces searched and interrogated Vladimir Skachidub and his wife, a disabled person of group II. Two months later, a criminal case was initiated against a believer from the village of Pavlovskaya under two parts of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Vitaly Veter, an investigator of the FSB of Russia for the Krasnodar Territory, considered it a crime that Vladimir Skachidub “played the role of a preacher” while talking with others about the Bible. Since December 2020, the Skachidub case has been considered by Olga Marchenko, judge of the Pavlovsky District Court of the Krasnodar Territory. In October 2021, she sentenced a believer with a disability to 4 years and 2 months in a penal colony. Six months later, the Court of Appeal upheld this decision. Vladimir is serving his sentence in IK-6 in the Ryazan region, 1200 km from home.
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