The Vinnytsia regional prosecutorʼs office reported suspicion of treason to blogger Anatolii Shariy, "who works for Russian propaganda from Spain."
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) reported this on July 6.
He was informed of the suspicion under Articles 28 and 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — treason under martial law based on a prior conspiracy by a group of people. According to the investigation, Anatolii Shariy participated in the preparation and distribution of staged videos where the occupiers interrogate Ukrainian prisoners.
In particular, Shariy personally instructed FSB employees on how to properly film interrogations and what questions to ask prisoners of war. And already after the shooting, he edited the video, cutting out of it the "unprofitable" moments for Russia. Then Russia used these stories to artificially discredit Ukraine, in particular on the international stage.
SBU states that Shariy cooperated with M. Yu. Kosenko, an employee of the 5th service of the FSB, and an accomplice from Sevastopol helped them communicate. The accomplice is Anton Shevtsov, the former head of the National Police in the Vinnytsia region, who was already suspected of treason at the beginning of this year. It was from him that Shariy received a video of the interrogation of two captured soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. After editing the files, they were agreed with a representative of the special service of the Russian Federation.
Then Shariy supplemented the story with his own comments and published it on his channels. However, Shariy himself, in conversations with an accomplice, admits that despite the montage, it was not possible to hide the poor condition of the prisoners.
Since 2019, Anatolii Shariy has been living in Spain, from where he organizes pro-Russian PR actions and spreads anti-Ukrainian stories.
- On February 16, SBU declared the suspicion of Anatolii Shariy on two counts — treason and violation of equality. SBU calls him a Russian propagandist who has been conducting subversive activities against Ukraine since 2012. Shariy himself called the case political.
- Anatolii Shariy is a former journalist who fled Ukraine in 2012 and received political asylum in Lithuania. Later, he started running a political blog on YouTube.