Ioann Samsonovich Baranov

Ioann Samsonovich Baranov was born in 1874 in the village of Rudnya-Pribytkovskaya, Gomel Governorate.

From 1895 to 1911, he served as a teacher.

In 1911, he was ordained a priest.

Since 1914, he served in the village of Golovichi near Mogilev.

In 1933, he was arrested and sentenced to five years of exile in Kazakhstan.

He served his exile in the village of Tarkhanka, Kirov District, East Kazakhstan Region. While in exile, Father Ioann Baranov anonymously wrote apologetic letters to the newspaper "Sputnik Agitatora" in response to the anti-religious articles published there. For this, he was arrested on November 5, 1937.

He was accused of "conducting systematic counter-revolutionary propaganda aimed at undermining collective farms, and of spreading counter-revolutionary letters through the press under fictitious names against the construction of collective farms and the mechanization of agriculture."

During interrogation, Father Ioann Baranov testified: "I confirm that the postcard was indeed written by me, but I did not oppose collectivization. I wrote letters to Soviet newspapers defending religion and rejecting materialism. I did not participate in any counter-revolutionary activities."

On November 20, 1937, the NKVD Troika of the East Kazakhstan Region sentenced Father Ioann Baranov to execution by shooting.

The sentence was carried out on December 4, 1937.

He was rehabilitated on April 28, 1989, by the Prosecutor's Office of the East Kazakhstan Region regarding the repressions of 1937.

He was glorified as a saint by the decision of the Holy Synod on December 27, 2000, for veneration throughout the Russian Orthodox Church.