Name: Voytko Marina Vasiliyevna
Date of Birth: March 16, 1965
Current status: defendant
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (2)
Current restrictions: obligation to appear

Biography

In May 2023, Marina Voytko, a resident of the village of Molodezhniy, faced criminal prosecution because of her belief in Jehovah God—armed security forces came to her with a search.

Marina was born in 1965 in the village of Stariy Olov (Chita Region). Together with her parents, she moved to the village of Molodezhniy, Khabarovsk Territory, where she still lives. His parents were agricultural workers.

As a child, Marina loved to draw, play with peers, ride a bicycle. After the 8th grade, she entered the school, where she received the profession of a builder. She worked in a kindergarten, and before retirement she worked for some time in the housing and communal services sector. In her free time, Marina still enjoys cycling and spending time in nature. She has three adult sons and two grandchildren. They all live separately.

In her youth, Marina experienced a tragedy—her one-year-old son died. The young woman had a question: why did God allow this? Years later, she found the answer in the Bible. Marina found hope for the resurrection of the dead and the meaning of life. In 2005, she firmly embarked on the Christian path.

Due to criminal prosecution, changes took place in Marina's quiet life. Because of the search, the woman experienced stress. Children worry about her and try to support her in every possible way.

Case History

In May 2023, civilians in the city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, as well as the village of Khurba and the village of Molodezhny, were subjected to night searches because of their religion. The investigation opened a criminal case against 8 believers—Vasiliy Bondarev and his mother Irina, Sergey Sachnev and his wife Ulita, Nikolay Kovadnev, Ivan Nikitin, Mikhail Dorofeev, Radion Shitov, Marina Voitko and Svetlana Zharkova. They were charged with involvement in the activities of a banned organization. In 2024, the prosecutor’s office returned the case to the investigator twice. In October the case went to court.
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