Activist who disappeared from home in Tbilisi reportedly found in Russian jail

Rafail Shepelev, a member of the Russian left-wing nationalist group Artpodgotovka (“Artillery preparation”), disappeared from Tbilisi last month and may now be in a Russian remand prison, the human rights group Department One reported on Tuesday.

According to the organization, Shepelev left his home in Tbilisi on October 12 and has not been seen since. His associates have said that he had no plans to return to Russia. The following day, a Vladikavkaz court reported on its website that Rafail Shepelev had been charged with a misdemeanor for “disorderly conduct.”

Now, Department One, citing its own sources, has said that Shepelev was arrested in Russia and put in a pre-trial detention facility on charges of committing a “terrorism-related crime.”

Rafail Shepelev is a native of Yekaterinburg. In Russia, according to the human rights advocacy group OVD-Info, he’s been arrested multiple times at protest rallies in the past, including some in support of opposition politician Alexey Navalny. He moved to Georgia in September 2021.