Yaroslav Shelepanov, a farmer from Russia's Samara region, is being held in pretrial detention on charges of financing terrorism over two donations made in 2022. The payments totaled 736 rubles and 85 kopecks. Human rights organization OVD-Info reported details of the criminal case on October 21.
According to investigators, Shelepanov sent the money through DonationAlerts on September 28 and 29, 2022, to a community established by supporters of opposition politician Vyacheslav Maltsev from the Artpodgotovka movement. Russian authorities designated the community a terrorist organization.
Shelepanov has been charged under Article 205.1, Part 1.1, of Russia's Criminal Code, which provides for criminal liability for financing terrorism. The case materials also refer to his visits to Maltsev's YouTube channel.
Security officers searched Shelepanov's home on August 19, 2026, seizing electronic devices and a notebook. A criminal case was opened two days later, and on August 22 the farmer was formally charged and placed in pretrial detention.
According to OVD-Info, Shelepanov initially spent about a month in a preliminary detention cell before being transferred to another cell. A court extended his detention until December 20.
His arrest has seriously affected his family's circumstances. Relatives had to sell approximately 50 sheep that Shelepanov had raised on his farm.
Artpodgotovka emerged around Vyacheslav Maltsev's political YouTube channel. In 2017, a Russian court designated the movement an extremist organization. In subsequent years, criminal cases were brought against people who donated to communities associated with it.
According to figures from the SOVA Research Center cited by OVD-Info, four people were convicted in cases involving the financing of Artpodgotovka in 2025, compared with at least 32 in the first nine months of 2026.
Shelepanov's transfers date back to 2022, the criminal case was opened in August 2026, and human rights advocates first published a detailed account of its circumstances on October 21. At the time of publication, the farmer's guilt had not been established by a final court judgment.