Biography
Zaurbek Tavitov was born in 1972 in Vladikavkaz. He has a younger brother. Their father worked as a driver and their mother as an accountant. Since childhood, Zaurbek has been engaged in sports—wrestling, karate, and football. He devoted most of his life to military service, and after his discharge from the army, he became a fitness trainer.
"My mother instilled in me faith in God," Zaurbek recalls. "She often talked about him and prayed constantly." Subsequently, the man began to study the Bible and in July 2010 was baptized as a Jehovah's Witness. "Everything I learned was logical," he says. "My life has changed dramatically. I got rid of bad habits, became more balanced and kinder. I used to spend all my free time with my friends. After learning the truth, I began to devote more time to my family."
In May 2008, Zaurbek married Zarema, whom he met at his friend's wedding. They have two adult children: the son works as a programmer; the daughter is a rehabilitation therapist.
The couple love to go out of town with the whole family and spend time with friends. The Tavitovs have good relations with their neighbors: when the need arose, they readily gave positive characteristics to the court.
Zaurbek and Zarema were prosecuted for their faith—in the summer of 2026, their homes were searched, after which the couple were placed in a temporary detention center, and later under house arrest. Their daughter was brought in as a witness in her parents' cases. "My family considers all this to be the highest degree of injustice," Zaurbek shared.