Biography
Yelena Zaishchuk was charged with extremism along with five other elderly women from Vladivostok because of their faith. Later, in February 2021, the criminal prosecution against Yelena was suspended due to her poor health. In October 2026, the believer passed away.
Yelena was born in 1934 and was raised until the age of 16 in one of the orphanages of the Mari ASSR. She did not remember her parents. Her childhood was harsh and postwar — there was no room for entertainment.
Yelena graduated from a trade school and became a lathe operator. Under distribution, she moved to Vladivostok, where she lived from then on. Starting at age 17, Yelena worked in the Primorye Territory fleet as a crab fisher. She graduated in absentia from the Marine College, specializing as a seafood processing technologist. Yelena raised a daughter.
In the late 1990s, Yelena underwent a serious surgery. Soon, she met Jehovah's Witnesses and began studying the Bible. From this book, she found answers to questions she had asked herself and others for a long time. In particular, she was troubled by why such a terrible and bloody World War II occurred, in which so many innocent people died. Bible advice helped her cope with life's difficulties and problems.
Because of the criminal prosecution, Yelena's health deteriorated even further; complications from her previous operation worsened. Her daughter and grandson worried about her, not understanding why an elderly, ill, peaceful woman who had done nothing wrong to anyone was being prosecuted.