John Dunaev, presbyter

Saint John was born in 1885 in the village of Vasilyevskoye, Yaroslavl province, in the family of a psalmist. After completing four classes of school, he served as a psalmist in the Blagoveshchensk Church. In 1930, he was ordained a priest. On December 3, 1937, he was arrested and accused of spreading false rumors against the Soviet government. He denied all accusations. On February 26, 1938, the NKVD troika sentenced him to death. Priest John Dunaev was executed on March 11, 1938, and buried in an unmarked grave.