Anatoly Shariy

Anatoly Anatoliiovych Shariy was born 20 August 1978 and received asylum in the European Union in 2012, claiming persecution by Ukrainian law enforcement over his journalism. He became a vocal critic of Euromaidan and the governments that followed, positioning himself as an opponent of both Petro Poroshenko and Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In June 2019 he launched the Party of Shariy, which took 2.23% of the vote in that year's parliamentary election and went on to win seats in city and oblast councils during the 2020 local elections, including in cities with millions of residents. In February 2021 the Security Service of Ukraine accused him of treason and incitement to ethnic or racial hatred. Spanish authorities detained him at the SBU's request in May 2022, released him the same day with precautionary measures, and by October a Spanish judge agreed to close consideration of his extradition.