Biography
Irina Savkina, who is raising her underage daughter on her own, has become the latest prisoner of conscience from Birobidzhan, where dozens of Jehovah's Witnesses have already faced persecution for their faith.
Irina is originally from the town of Huliaipole, Ukraine. She was born in August 1976 and has three sisters and one brother. As part of a resettlement program, her parents moved to the Russian Far East and settled in the village of Polevoye in the Jewish Autonomous Region. Her mother worked as a milkmaid, while her father worked as a cattleman.
As a child, Irina enjoyed taking part in drama clubs, where children staged fairy tales and performed short plays. After finishing school, she completed vocational training as a pastry chef and worked for a time as a cook, and later as a painter.
In the early 2000s, Irina began studying the Bible with Jehovah's Witnesses. "I found answers to my questions. What especially amazed me was learning that the Bible is scientifically accurate," she recalls. Applying Bible principles brought radical changes to Irina's life. "I used to be very cruel," she says. "I smoked, abused alcohol, and lived an immoral life. But thankfully, Jehovah helped me overcome all of that. My life became joyful and happy." She was baptized in the summer of 2002.
Irina has two daughters, one of whom is already an adult. Over time, the family moved to the village of Amurzet. After Irina suffered a leg injury, she often traveled 210 kilometers to Birobidzhan, where she underwent several surgeries. During that period, friends in Birobidzhan supported her, and she decided to move closer to them. Irina enjoys spending time with friends and loves being out in nature.
Criminal prosecution has brought serious hardships into the lives of Irina and her daughters. She faced threats and pressure from the investigator and later found out that her bank accounts had been frozen. As a result, Irina was unable to receive eight years' worth of unpaid child support for her younger daughter or to work. Stress has also triggered health problems for Irina.