Yaroslav Shirshikov
- Criminal Code
- Article 128.1 part 5, Russian Criminal CodeArticle 205.2 part 2, Russian Criminal CodeArticle 212 part 3, Russian Criminal Code
- Case category
- Anti-war casesTerrorism casesCases related to mass actions
- Verdict
- Imprisonment (general regime)
- Sentence
- 5 years
- Date of verdict
- 2024-02-27
- Region
- Sverdlovsk Oblast
- City
- Yekaterinburg
- Facility
- ФКУ «ИК № 2 ГУФСИН России по Свердловской области»
- Address for letters
- 620019, Свердловская область, г. Екатеринбург, ул. Малышева д. 2 Б, ФКУ «ИК № 2 ГУФСИН России по Свердловской области», Ширшиков Ярослав Юрьевич, 1987 г.р.
Case summary
A resident of Yekaterinburg, a PR-specialist. He was a participant in protests against the construction of a church in the Drama Theatre Square in 2019 and was sentenced to seven months in a settlement penal colony on charges of inciting mass riots and defamation.
On 30 March 2023, he was the first to report the disappearance of The Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich, who was accused of espionage: Shirshikov wrote that he had met with the journalist and had given him an interview.
It later became known that a case had been opened against Shirshikov for justification of terrorism due to a publication about the death of Vladlen Tatarsky. He was taken into custody. On 20 June 2023, he was released on recognisance not to leave. On 27 February 2024, Shirshikov was sentenced to two years in a general regime penal colony. On 17 October 2024, the court of appeal increased his sentence to five years, considering the motive of political hostility as an aggravating factor.
In April 2025, Shirshikov had his left eye removed at the Ekaterinburg City Hospital.
Others charged under Article 128.1 part 5, Russian Criminal Code
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Source: this person’s record in the OVD-Info political persecution database
Published under CC BY 3.0. The criteria for treating a person as politically persecuted belong to OVD-Info; FACTUM relays their assessment and makes none of its own.
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