Biography
In October 2022, law enforcement officers broke into the house of pensioner Nikolay Voishchev. His house was searched; he was sent to a detention center and later sentenced to imprisonment for practicing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. As a result, the believer spent more than 900 days behind bars: a little less than a year in a pre-trial detention center, and the rest of the time in a penal colony. In April 2025, he was released, having served his sentence in full. Less than a year later, he died.
Nikolay was born in September 1955 in the city of Kandalaksha, Murmansk region. Soon after his birth, the family moved to Bratsk. Nikolay had a brother and an adult son who live far away.
Nikolay was introduced to the Bible by his parents. For some time, he lived with them in Belarus. There, the young man graduated from a technical school, becoming a specialist in gas equipment.
Having met his future wife Tatyana, in 1980 Nikolay moved to her place of residence, to Maykop (Adygea), where they soon got married. In 1986, the couple had a son. Nikolay worked as a watch repairman. When Tatyana fell seriously ill in 1995, he cared for her for many years. After her death in 2014, the man stayed in Maykop and worked as a plumber until his arrest.
Nikolay loved nature, traveling, and people. He was always ready to help solve difficult issues or some everyday problems. Nikolay's acquaintances remember him as a kind, modest, and cheerful person.
Imprisonment for his faith was a difficult test for Nikolay. Speaking in court with the final plea, he said: "The first few weeks of my arrest were a stressful situation for me—there were panic attacks. There was not enough air, I was suffocating; The closed space pressed on me from all sides. Then I would lie down on my bed, close my eyes, and begin to pray. Gradually, my heart calmed down." According to Voishchev, faith helped him cope with what was happening: "For me, Jehovah became a God of consolation, tranquility, and I saw an opportunity to look at my life circumstances positively."
In the summer of 2025, Nikolay married Irina. In November, the man was diagnosed with a progressive brain disease. In February 2026, at the age of 70, the believer died. Until the last day, Irina was there, supporting her husband.