Biography
Yelena Kozhevnikova from Tolyatti suffered serious losses—her only son died at the age of 18, her marriage broke up shortly thereafter, and she later buried her parents. The criminal prosecution for her faith, which she faced in May 2023, was another test in her life.
Yelena was born in October 1961 in the city of Ivanovo. Later, her family moved to Tolyatti, where Yelena's parents worked at the Volga Automobile Plant. As a child, she loved board and outdoor games, read with pleasure. After school, Yelena entered a sewing school, after which she worked for some time in an atelier, and then got a job in a department store. While working there, she graduated from the College of Soviet Trade in absentia.
Now Yelena is retired, moonlighting as a maid and cleaner. She enjoys traveling, sewing and cooking. She takes special pleasure in communicating with friends.
In the late 1990s, Yelena got acquainted with the Bible. She recalls: "At first I didn't believe that eternal life was possible. I argued a lot. But I still wanted to read the Bible to figure it all out. I was attracted by how Jehovah was going to solve the issue of injustice. He's going to put an end to it." In 1998, Yelena became one of Jehovah's Witnesses. Later, her mother joined her in her Bible study.
The search and criminal prosecution for her faith dramatically changed Yelena's life. She said: "Now I have to adapt to the new circumstances. I can no longer plan anything freely, because I don't know what lies ahead. In addition, diseases have worsened. Yelena's relatives consider the persecution against her to be groundless.