Biography
"The search, interrogations, job loss and uncertainty have put enormous pressure on me and my family," said Andrey Yavniy of Vladivostok who has been charged with extremism for his faith.
Andrey was born in Vladivostok into a working-class family: his mother worked in a railway depot; his father was a welder. Andrey has an older sister. As a child, he liked weightlifting and collecting stamps.
After finishing school, he trained as a technician for installing and operating power lines, but he could not work at height. From 1986-1989, he served in the army on a submarine, after which Andrey decided to study at a maritime college and trained as a nautical-mechanic. However, he worked mostly as a driver.
From his youth, Andrey was troubled by the inevitability of death: watching funeral processions, he wondered why people accepted death as something normal. Losing his parents was a heavy blow for him — his mother died when he was 27, and later his father. "When I learned that death is not the end, I was overjoyed," he recalls. In 1992, Andrey was baptized as one of Jehovah's Witnesses.
In October 2017, he married Irina. She is a qualified lawyer and is creative — she makes handcrafted soaps. The couple enjoys the sea and spending time outdoors, which helps them relax.
After the search in September 2025, both Andrey's and his wife's health worsened due to emotional exhaustion. The restrictions imposed by the court caused difficulties with work: without a phone and the Internet, Andrey cannot accept orders or post ads. Relatives support the family.