The entry for Shpartun appeared in the Interior Ministry's wanted database, according to Mediazona. The grounds for the criminal case are listed only as an "article of the Criminal Code," without specifying which one. Shpartun is also known under the name Zhaslan Mustakhanov and used the call sign Canello during the war.
Shpartun is 34 and was born in Omsk. Before the war in Ukraine began, he was tried at least six times in cases involving theft and robbery. In December 2021, a court in Chelyabinsk sentenced him to 6.5 years in a special-regime colony in a case involving a series of jewelry store robberies. In March 2022, the Vologda City Court added another 1.5 years in a colony for stealing digital equipment from a store.
Shpartun himself said he signed a contract in 2022 and trained with the Wagner Group. According to him, he took part in the fighting for Bakhmut. When exactly he was released from the colony is unknown.
In November 2023, Shpartun was detained again in Omsk on suspicion of robbing a jewelry store of 1.7 million rubles, the local outlet 12 Kanal reported. In June 2024, a court sentenced him and an accomplice to 6 years in a strict-regime colony. He was later released again and joined an assault company of the 433rd Motorized Rifle Regiment, which took part in the capture of Selidovo in the Donetsk region.
In late October 2024, Shpartun appeared in a video from the captured Ukrainian city, saying Russian troops had taken it. He talked about the war on the Telegram channel "Canello OtVazhny" and on a page of the same name on VKontakte.
In February 2025, he recorded a video criticizing the command over its treatment of soldiers, promising to find those who give criminal orders. On June 30, 2025, a new video appeared on his VKontakte page in which he openly criticized the Defense Ministry, saying the entire system of conducting combat operations is arranged so that service members are expendable material.
The Finnish outlet Yle reported that the video was recorded after Shpartun illegally crossed the border into Finland and applied for political asylum there. Last November, Yle reported that Finnish authorities had returned to Russia a man named Yevgeny with experience of fighting against Ukraine. It was assumed that the man was Shpartun. What has happened to the former mercenary recently is unknown.