Presbyter
Saint Martyr Vyacheslav was born in 1892 in Sychyovka, Smolensk province, into a noble family. His father, Sergey Zankov, was an inspector of public schools. In 1914, Vyacheslav entered Moscow University, which he graduated from in 1918 and became a teacher. From 1920 to 1921, he worked in the department of public education, and from 1921 to 1923, he was an employee of the People's Commissariat for Education. In 1920, he was ordained as a priest and served in the Church of the Holy Trinity until 1932, then in the Church of Saint Nicholas. In 1934, he was awarded a cross with decorations. In 1936, he was appointed to serve in the Kazan Church of the village of Kotel'niki, where he organized the repair of the church and preached the Word of God. He was accused of agitation among adolescents and children, as well as preaching about the sin of abortion. On September 16-17, 1937, he was arrested and accused of counter-revolutionary activities. At the time of his arrest, manuscripts of lectures by Professor N.D. Kuznetsov were found with him, which became a subject of interest for the NKVD. On October 9, 1937, the NKVD troika sentenced him to execution. On October 13, 1937, Archpriest Vyacheslav Zankov was shot and buried in an unmarked grave at the Butovo firing range near Moscow.
