Anastasia Shevchenko
Anastasia Shevchenko, born 1979, Rostov Oblast. Charges: Article 205.4 (part unknown), Russian Criminal Code (Organisation of a terrorist community and participation in it); Article 278, Russian Criminal Code (Violent seizure of power or alteration of the constitutional order); “The case of Anti-War Committee of Russia”, opened on January 1, 2025. Previously convicted under Article 284.1, Russian Criminal Code. Status: not in Russia. Recognition: Union of Solidarity with Political Prisoners — recognised as a political prisoner, February 13, 2019; Memorial Human Rights Centre — recognised as a political prisoner, February 7, 2019.
In brief
Rostov Oblast · Rostov-on-Don · Journalists · Anti-war cases, Terrorism cases, Cases against "foreign agents", Cases related to mass actions
Sentence
2 years
in a general regime penal colony
First instance, February 17, 2021: 4 years
Charges
- Article 205.4 (part unknown), Russian Criminal Code — Organisation of a terrorist community and participation in it
- Article 278, Russian Criminal Code — Violent seizure of power or alteration of the constitutional order
- Article 284.1, Russian Criminal Code — Implementation, organization, or financing of activities of an undesirable organization
Full wording of the charges
Shevchenko participated in political debates in Taganrog as a coordinator, published an announcement of an Open Russia lecture, encouraged activists to infiltrate protest groups by offering them legal assistance, and "displayed symbols from the protest action "Fed up"" at a rally on 28 October 2018.
Latest event
May 6, 2025 — added to the rosfinmonitoring list of “terrorists and extremists”
Recognition by rights defenders
- Recognised as a political prisoner — Union of Solidarity with Political Prisoners, February 13, 2019
- Recognised as a political prisoner — Memorial Human Rights Centre, February 7, 2019
- Recognised as a prisoner of conscience — Amnesty International, January 24, 2019
- Recognised as a political prisoner — Union of Solidarity with Political Prisoners
Timeline
· Added to the Rosfinmonitoring list of “terrorists and extremists”
· Added to the register of “foreign agents”
· Criminal case opened
The case of Anti-War Committee of Russia
· Appeal ruling
sentence changed · 2 years
· Preventive measure: travel ban (written undertaking)
· First-instance verdict
guilty verdict · 4 years
· Recognised as a political prisoner
Union of Solidarity with Political Prisoners
· Recognised as a political prisoner
Memorial Human Rights Centre
· Recognised as a prisoner of conscience
Amnesty International
· Preventive measure: house arrest
· Persecution begins
Anastasia Shevchenko's case on the activities of an "undesirable organisation"
Criminal case
The case of Anti-War Committee of Russia
Other defendants in the case
- Sergei Aleksashenko — Not in Russia
- Marat Gelman — Not in Russia
- Leonid Gozman — Not in Russia
- Dmitry Gudkov — Not in Russia
- Sergei Guriev — Not in Russia
- Boris Zimin — Not in Russia
- Vladimir Kara-Murza — Not in Russia
- Garry Kasparov — Not in Russia
- Mikhail Kasianov — Not in Russia
- Evgenii Kiselev — Not in Russia
- Mikhail Kokorich — Not in Russia
- Evgenii Kunin — Not in Russia
- Elena Lukyanova — Not in Russia
- Kirill Martynov — Not in Russia
- Yuri Pivovarov — Not in Russia
- Maxim Reznik — Not in Russia
- Artur Smolianinov — Not in Russia
- Mikhail Khodorkovsky — Not in Russia
- Evgenii Chichvarkin — Not in Russia
- Konstantin Chumakov — Not in Russia
- Viktor Shenderovich — Not in Russia
- Ekaterina Shulman — Not in Russia
Thematic group: Anti-war case
Anastasia Shevchenko's case on the activities of an "undesirable organisation"
Details and sources
Full summary
On January 21, 2019, a search was carried out at the home of Anastasia Shevchenko, a member of the federal council of Open Russia. Law enforcement officers seized all her means of communication. Searches were also conducted at the homes of other movement members in Rostov-on-Don, Kazan, and Ulyanovsk. That same day, it became known that a criminal case had been opened against Shevchenko for carrying out the activities of an organization designated as “undesirable” in Russia (Article 284.1 of the Criminal Code). She was summoned for questioning to the Investigative Committee and was held in a temporary detention facility pending trial. On January 23, the court placed Shevchenko under house arrest.
On February 18, 2021, Anastasia Shevchenko was sentenced to four years of suspended imprisonment. On August 10, another court reclassified Shevchenko’s actions under a revised version of the article on carrying out the activities of an “undesirable organization” and reduced the sentence to three years.
In August 2022, it was reported that Shevchenko had left the country. In September, reports emerged that she had been placed on a wanted list. On December 20, she was sentenced in absentia to three years in prison. On February 6, 2023, an appellate court reduced the sentence to two years.
In May 2025, Anastasia Shevchenko was added to the register of extremists and terrorists maintained by Rosfinmonitoring (the Federal Financial Monitoring Service), with a designation used for individuals prosecuted under terrorism-related articles.
On October 14, 2025, the Federal Security Service (FSB) announced the opening of a criminal case against Shevchenko and other members of the Anti-War Committee of Russia on charges of the violent seizure of power and organizing the activities of a terrorist community. The case was triggered by the adoption of the “Berlin Declaration,” which called for a change of power in Russia.
In November 2025, another case against Anastasia Shevchenko was referred to court under the article on organizing the financing of terrorism. The details of this case are unknown.
All fields of the record
- Citizenship
- Russia
- Persecution episodes
- 2
Other people prosecuted under Article 205.4 (part unknown), Russian Criminal Code
Under the same article, not necessarily in the same case.