Biography
Back in 2019, Sergey Zhigalov's family was searched for the first time in the case against his co-religionist. Three years later, Sergey was searched again and a criminal case was opened against him because of his faith and accused of extremism. In January 2025, the court sentenced him to 6 years in a penal colony.
Sergey was born in the mining town of Snezhnoye, Donetsk region, Ukraine, in March 1971 in a family of workers. He has a younger brother. As a child, Sergey was fond of breeding aquarium fish, loved to work on the horizontal bars and play football. Even then, the boy was interested in spiritual topics, he persuaded his grandmother, who was a devout woman, to take him to church with her.
After serving in the army, Sergey worked at the mine for 6 years, graduated from the institute in absentia with a degree in Accounting and Audit. Since 1997, he has been working as a plumber.
For the first time the Bible fell into the hands of Sergey in 1994. He was impressed by the accuracy of the fulfillment of Bible prophecy, the logic of this book and the wisdom of the advice recorded in it. Applying principles from the Scriptures helped him break bad habits. After two years of careful study of the Bible, the young man made the decision to become one of Jehovah's Witnesses.
In 2000, Sergey moved to live in Crimea, where he met Olga, who in 2007 became his wife. She works as a real estate lawyer. The spouses have common religious views. Sergey and Olga do not miss the opportunity to enjoy the nature of the peninsula and periodically go to the sea with tents. They love to cook delicious meals for friends and spend time in their company.
The criminal prosecution of Sergey brought with it many difficulties for the whole family. The couple had to change their place of residence, they faced problems at work. Olga has health problems from stress. Experiences also added a search of her mother, who suffers from an incurable disease.
Relatives, friends, neighbors and clients of Sergey do not understand why he is being persecuted, because they know him as a decent, friendly and non-confrontational person. Many of them, on their own initiative, provided positive references to the believer.
Sergey and his parents have different religious views, but they are confident in their son's innocence. They consider the verdict unfair and the charges far-fetched.