Early life Nikolay Kotelnikov was born in the
Sunzhensky District of
Checheno-Ingush ASSR on 4 February 1955. He served his military service in the
Soviet Army and received his theological education by correspondence. Nikolai Kotelnikov's spiritual mentor was Protoiereus , the rector of the church in
Sunzha, who was kidnapped by
Arbi Barayev's militants and tortured to death in 1999.
Career in the Orthodox Church Nikolay Kotelnikov became a priest in 1977, For a long time, he was the only Orthodox priest in Derbent; the priest was the rector of the
Church of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin. Under Protoiereus Nikolai, the church underwent large-scale repair and restoration work. According to the media, Derbent residents spoke about Nikolai exclusively positively: he never refused to help those in need, not only Orthodox, but also those who professed other religions. Orthodox residents of Derbent believe that with the arrival of Father Nikolay, the life of Christians in the city has noticeably improved. On the eve of the 2000th anniversary of
Derbent in 2015, Kotelnikov stated in an interview that the Orthodox community in the city was shrinking. According to him, most of the parishioners were women and officers from a nearby military base. Kotelnikov was involved in educational activities and taught at a local
sunday school. According to Kotelnikov's son-in-law, the initial shot was not fatal; Kotelnikov was ultimately stabbed to death. Initially, the media reported that the terrorists slit the priest's throat, but this was later denied by the Derbent mayor's office press service, which stated that Kotelnikov was shot. In the following days, it became known that Nikolai Kotelnikov was one of the main targets of the terrorist attack: his photo was pinned in the terrorist coordination chat. According to another Russian Orthodox priest, Kotelnikov was chosen as a target because "his two sons-in-law are
Azerbaijanis who converted to Orthodoxy and became priests. This is what really irritated them [attackers]". Kotelnikov was buried on the grounds of the
Church of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin of Derbent, where he had served for over 45 years. == Awards and honours ==