Name: Zhuk Tatyana Valentinovna
Date of Birth: March 13, 1973
Current status: convicted person
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (2)
Current restrictions: suspended sentence
Sentence: punishment in the form of 4 years of imprisonment, with deprivation of the right to engage in activities related to participation in the work of a public religious organization, for a term of 4 years, with restriction of liberty for a term of 1 year, imprisonment shall be considered suspended with a probationary period of 3 years

Biography

On November 10, 2018, in Khabarovsk, 30 riot policemen broke into a café where a friendly party was taking place. After breaking down the doors, they staged hours of mass interrogation of those present, including minors, with the seizure of personal property and fingerprinting. Criminal cases were opened against several party participants in connection with their religion. Among them were the spouses Vitaly and Tatyana Zhuk. What do we know about Tatiana?

Tatyana was born in 1973 in Khabarovsk. She has an elder brother. As a child, she played basketball and music - she played the accordion and balalaika. After graduating from high school and pedagogical college, she worked as a kindergarten teacher. Later she mastered the profession of a housekeeper.

At the age of 19, Tatiana became keenly interested in the Bible. Her mother was initially concerned about this, but when she saw that Bible education had a beneficial effect on her daughter, she softened the attitude towards her choice. "This is what helped me fill the void," says Tatiana. "The Bible helped me find answers to all my questions."

Tatyana has lived all her life in her native Khabarovsk. Here she also met her future husband Vitaly, a gas electric welder by profession. The couple raised daughters Dina and Polina. Both of them work in the catering industry, and Polina graduated with honors from the College of Technology. The whole family loves to spend time in nature. Tatiana still can't imagine herself without music and masters the guitar on her own.

Relatives and friends of the Zhuk spouses cannot understand why they are being persecuted, and consider what is happening to be complete absurdity.

Case History

In November 2018, OMON officers raided a friendly gathering in a café, after which Nikolay Polevodov, Stanislav Kim, Vitaliy and Tatyana Zhuk, Svetlana Sedova and Maya Karpushkina ended up under investigation. The men were sent to a pretrial detention center, and later placed under house arrest. In the end, the Investigative Committee charged the believers: the men with organizing the activity of an extremist organization, and the women with participating in it. Hearings of the court of first instance over 14 months, revealed the groundlessness of the charges, and the case was returned to the prosecutor’s office. In December 2021, it went to court again. In June 2024, Polevodov, Zhuk and Kim were sent to a penal colony for 8.5 years, 8 years and 4 months and 8 years and 2 months, respectively. Tatyana Zhuk and Svetlana Sedova were given a 5-year suspended sentence and Maya Karpushkina 4 years. Kim and Polevodov, who were defendants in another criminal case for their faith, simultaneously defended their beliefs in another court. In October 2024, the court of appeal reduced the sentences by 1 year and changed the men’s to suspended sentences.
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