Blogger Shari announced a sentence in absentia to 15 years in prison in Ukraine

Ukrainian blogger Anatoly Shariy said that on June 4, the court of the city of Vinnytsia sentenced him in absentia, according to which he will spend 15 years in prison for anti-Ukrainian activities on social networks.

"So, the Vinnytsia garbage dump, which is officially called the "Vinnytsia Court", announced the verdict today... I got 15 years in prison. My fault lies in the fact that I "conducted anti-Ukrainian activities on my Telegram channel and on Youtube," the blogger said on his Telegram channel.

The blogger noted that the verdict was announced without the presence of his lawyers. The judges also refused to hear evidence of Sharia's innocence. In addition to the verdict, the court decided to confiscate all of the blogger's online platforms.

In July 2023, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) charged Shariy in absentia with treason for allegedly cooperating with the Federal Security Service (FSB) of Russia and distributing videos discrediting Kiev's policies. Shariy stated that he had never worked for the FSB and was ready to prove his innocence in court.

In March 2024, the blogger reported that he had been attacked in Spain. According to Sharia, the attacker allegedly opened fire on his car and fled the scene of the crime. He cited his professional activities as the reason for the attack. After that, Verkhovna Rada deputy Alexei Goncharenko (listed as a terrorist and extremist by Rosfinmonitoring) announced in April that Shariy had moved to the UK after the assassination attempt in Spain.