Ioann Ivanovich Sokardin

Ioann Ivanovich Sokardin was born in the village of Gerasimovka, Lepsinsky Uyezd, Semirechensk Region, into a peasant family. Known for his piety, he attended the village church dedicated to the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos on all Sundays and feast days.

In the spring of 1930, local authorities decided to close the church and repurpose the building as a club. The residents of Gerasimovka were warned that those who resisted would be killed. The priest, learning of this, left the village in advance, and church services ceased.

On April 29, 1930, the authorities made their first attempt to seize the church. However, the martyr began to ring the alarm bell, gathering the parishioners to defend the church.

On April 30, an armed detachment from the VKP(b) arrived and arrested the protesting peasants. Ioann Ivanovich was taken to the local authority office and brutally beaten for two days. He died on the way to the hospital. His body was secretly taken and buried in a field by order of the authorities.

Ioann's name was included in the Synaxis of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia by the decree of the Holy Synod on December 27, 2000.