Biography
A native Muscovite Sergey Tolokonnikov worked for many years as a security guard. After becoming a Christian, he refused to carry weapons and use violence against others. Despite this, in October 2021, the authorities considered him a dangerous criminal, charging him under two extremist articles at once for his faith.
Sergey was born in Moscow in 1972. His parents divorced when he was 4 years old. Since childhood, Sergey was fond of reading, music and football, studied well. He entered a technical university, but did not graduate from it.
In 1995, Sergey met Mariya, who was raising a two-year-old son from her first marriage. Young people decided to live together. In 2003, Mariya began studying the Bible because she wanted to learn more about Christian teachings. Later, Sergey joined her. He was amazed that the Scriptures provide an answer to any vital question, and the advice in this book is still relevant today.
The Bible prompted the couple to change. When they read that living together without being in a legal marriage from the point of view of the state is a sin in the eyes of God, they decided to register their relationship. Also, thanks to the knowledge gained, Mariya was able to overcome the bad habit — for 16 years she was an avid smoker. The changes also affected the professional sphere. Sergey, for example, refused to carry weapons at work, and Mariya made the difficult decision to leave the highly paid position of an accountant, where her activities were fraught with lies and violation of the law. She is now a cleaning professional. In 2005, the couple became Jehovah's Witnesses.
Sergey and Mariya love to travel. This hobby gave them not only a lot of interesting memories and impressions, but also many friends around the world.
The search and arrest of Sergey had a serious impact on the life of the family. Once in jail for his faith, Sergey lost his job, where he received encouragement from his superiors for responsible work. On the shoulders of Mary lay material obligations. The security forces took not only the money of the spouses, but also the bank card of Sergey's mother-in-law, where the pension was accrued, as well as her Muscovite card for moving around the city.
The united believers support Mariya as they can. Relatives who do not share the Tolokonnikovs' religious convictions are outraged by the arrest of an innocent believer.