Biography
Zhanna Zhavoronkova was born in February 1982 in the village of Ukrainka, Khabarovsk Territory. She is the youngest of three children. Their mother is no longer alive, and their father is bedridden due to illness.
As a child, Zhanna was fond of dancing, loved to walk on the hills, enjoying the beauty of nature, collecting cedar cones and oak leaves for crafts. After school, she graduated from the railway school, and then, after advanced training courses, she worked as a flaw detector for 12 years: she identified problems in the undercarriage equipment. Before the criminal prosecution, Zhanna worked as a contractor for locomotive crews.
As a child, Zhanna wondered: is there really no place on earth where people would not harm the environment? In 1995, when the family was living in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Jehovah's Witnesses came to their home. Zhanna recalls: "I was deeply touched by God's promises regarding the land. It was my lifeline, a breath of fresh air. It turned out that everything I dreamed of had a solid foundation, which gives me strength to this day."
In 1996, Zhanna and her parents moved to the city of Shakhunya (Nizhny Novgorod region), where the girl and her mother continued to study the Bible. Subsequently, her mother decided to become Jehovah's Witness, and in 2005, Zhanna herself embarked on the Christian path.
Zhanna is married and has an adult son, Aleksandr, who shares her religious beliefs. She still enjoys hiking, especially in the park.
After the search in February 2024, Zhanna and her husband had to change jobs. Valeriy, who does not share his wife's convictions, is outraged by the unfair accusations against her and worries about her. Their relatives and colleagues are perplexed because of the criminal prosecution of Zhanna for her faith.