Biography
Tamara Bratseva, a pensioner from Razdolnoye, found herself under the yoke of criminal prosecution for her faith in God. In August 2024, her house was searched, and the woman was asked not to leave the city.
Tamara was born in September 1955 in Melitopol in a family of ordinary workers. She has a younger sister.
"I loved to read," Tamara said, recalling her childhood. "I was just reading different stories. The library was where I spent a lot of time." After school, the girl tried to enroll in the Zaporozhye Pedagogical Institute's Faculty of Philology, but did not score the required points.
Returning to her hometown, Tamara got a job as a cleaner in the lathe shop of a compressor plant. At the same time, she took preparatory courses at the Melitopol Institute of Mechanization and Electrification of Agriculture, where she later studied.
At the institute, Tamara met her future husband. Upon graduation, they were assigned to the Razdolnensky district, where they have been living ever since. For about 30 years, Tamara worked as an occupational safety engineer.
"I never doubted that the Bible is the word of God. I've known this since I was a child," Tamara said. "But I wanted to understand it, so I immersed myself in deep study." It happened in 1991. Four years later, she became one of Jehovah's Witnesses.
Despite the criminal prosecution, Tamara tries not to lose heart and keeps peace in her heart. Friends support the believer.