A Russian activist who disappeared in Georgia went to a village on the border with the Tskhinvali region - Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs

The Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that the missing member of the Artpodgotovka movement, Rafail Shepelev, who lived in Tbilisi, himself reached the village of Kirbali near the Tskhinvali region. There he probably met Russian border guards, who took him to Russian-controlled territory. The statement by the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs is quoted by the office of the Free Russia Foundation in the South Caucasus.

According to the department, on October 12, 2023, Shepelev went to Kirbali by taxi. This information is confirmed by CCTV cameras in the place where Shepelev got into the taxi, as well as testimony from the driver and residents of the village of Kirbali. Local residents saw Shepelev going up to the church where, presumably, Russian border guards were located: “In accordance with the information received, local residents saw “Russians” there and how Rafail approached them, after which Rafail was taken to the occupied territory of Georgia, uncontrolled official Tbilisi."

On November 9, the First Department reported that Shepelev had disappeared. Human rights activists discovered that the Sovetsky District Court of Vladikavkaz arrested Shepelev on October 13 under an administrative article of petty hooliganism, after which he was sent to a pre-trial detention center “on charges of committing a crime of a terrorist nature.”

“His personal belongings remained in the house. According to his associates, he had been living in Georgia since September 2021 and had no intention of returning to Russia,” noted the First Department. As Mediazona reports, citing Shepelev’s acquaintance Irina Ruchko, before his disappearance, he left the house “to resolve everyday issues and did not explain anything to the people with whom he lived.” They ruled out that he, on his own initiative, left for Russia, where he faced criminal prosecution due to his participation in the Artpodgotovka movement, banned in Russia.

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