His Grace Jacob (Kostiuchuk), Bishop of Bialystok and Gdansk, was born on October 22, 1966, in Narva. He completed the electrical technical school in Bialystok and worked as an electrician. In 1987, he entered into Suprasl's Annunciation Monastery and received monastic tonsure. In that same year, he enrolled in the Moscow Theological Academy, which he completed in 1992.

According to the decree of the Holy Council of Bishops on March 30, 1999, Vladyka Jacob was named as Bishop of Bialystok and Gdansk. Vladyka Jacob's enthronement in the See of Bialystok took place on May 22, 1999.

Translated from the Russian by Daryle Lamoureux