Biography
Irina Parkhomenko lived an ordinary, peaceful life—she worked for many years as an engineer, took care of her family, and helped those close to her. Already in retirement, she faced criminal prosecution for her faith.
Irina was born in the town of Sretensk in the Zabaykalskiy Territory. She has a sister. At different times, her father worked as the head of a surveying team, a construction foreman, and chief engineer of a forestry enterprise; he also taught at a construction technical college and, before retiring, worked in the passenger transportation directorate. Her mother began her working life as a cook and later spent many years at a garment factory. Both of Irina's parents have passed away.
Irina's mother often read books aloud to her daughters, and this is how Irina developed a love of reading that stayed with her throughout her life. She was especially impressed by Daniel Defoe's novel Robinson Crusoe. After reading it, she became fascinated with pottery: she molded clay dishes and fired them in a homemade kiln. Irina also fondly recalls other childhood interests—she loved singing, and when her grandmothers came to visit, they taught her how to knit and spin wool. Her mother, in turn, taught her to sew and trusted her to work on a sewing machine.
Irina clearly remembers her mother's words: "God exists, and He sees everything." Although her mother did not identify with any religion, she taught her daughter to treat the Creator with respect.
After finishing school, Irina enrolled in the Institute of Railway Transport Engineers. During her studies, she spent long hours in the library, studying philosophical and political works that were part of the curriculum at the time—the writings of Lenin, Marx, and Engels.
While still a student, Irina got married. Soon after graduating, the family was assigned to work on the Baikal--Amur Mainline. The couple had a daughter. Before long, Irina was left alone with the child. She had to combine work with caring for her daughter, who was seriously ill at the time. Irina began to pray, asking God for help, learning to thank Him and to remain faithful to her promises. "Seeing God's support made life easier for me, and not so frightening," she recalls.
Over time, Irina increasingly reflected on the meaning of life and asked God to help her find answers to the questions that concerned her. In Khabarovsk, she struck up a conversation with a woman who spoke about God using the Bible. That conversation deeply touched Irina. When she was later offered a Bible study, she agreed without hesitation. In 1995, Irina was baptized as one of Jehovah's Witnesses.
This period coincided with major changes in the country and the restructuring of the railways. Irina was transferred to a position as an occupational safety engineer in Komsomolsk‑on‑Amur. Several years later, she and her daughter had to move to Chita because her parents needed assistance. After retiring, Irina took a job as a cleaner to support herself financially.
In 2020, law enforcement officers broke into Irina's apartment, where she lived together with her daughter and son‑in‑law, who has suffered from epilepsy since childhood. "They were very frightened," Irina says. "During the search, the officers inspected and confiscated not only my belongings, but also theirs. Those items were later returned to us in a damaged condition." Six years later, another search was conducted in Irina's apartment. It was then that the believer learned she had become a defendant in a criminal case on extremism charges.