Biography
"My relatives do not understand why I am being persecuted," said Vitaliy Manuylov. In the summer of 2023, a criminal case was opened against him, accusing him of extremism.
Vitaliy was born in Barnaul in December 1972. When he was still a child, the family moved to Kazakhstan. Vitaliy spent his childhood there, then served in the army. In 1993, he returned to Barnaul, and later moved his parents there. Vitaliy has a younger brother. Their father is no longer alive.
In his youth, Vitaliy was fond of cross-country skiing—he trained at the School of Higher Sportsmanship, participated in republican competitions. In 1996, he graduated from the Construction College with a degree in Installation and Operation of Internal Plumbing and Ventilation Devices. Since then, he has been working by profession.
"All my life I have asked myself: what is the future of our children and grandchildren? If life is getting harder every year, what are we living for? Why do people die? No one could answer me," Vitaliy recalls. "In 1997, I met Jehovah's Witnesses, and they answered these and other questions with the help of the Bible." Reading the Holy Scriptures, he came to the conclusion that this book was the Word of God, and in 2000 he became one of Jehovah's Witnesses.
Vitaliy met his wife Marina back in Kazakhstan after serving in the army. In September 1994, they got married. The couple have a daughter who is already married. In his free time, Vitaliy still goes in for sports and teaches his grandson to do it.