Martyr Ivan Nikitich Menkov was born in 1884 in the village of Kara-Balta (now a town in the Chuy Region of Kyrgyzstan). He served as a psalm reader in the church of Kara-Balta.
In October 1920, Ivan Nikitich was arrested together with 31 others as a participant in a “counterrevolutionary organization” that “aimed to overthrow Soviet power and prepare an uprising in Turkestan.” The confessor did not admit any guilt. Martyr John was sentenced to death by firing squad and executed together with Hieromartyr Alexander Yuzefovich in December 1920 in the city of Verny (Alma-Ata). The place of his burial is unknown.
He was glorified among the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia in August 2000 at the Bishops’ Council of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Days of commemoration: December 26 (December 13 according to the old style calendar) and on the feast of the Synaxis of the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church.
