Vyacheslav Shepelev

Resident of Togliatti, chairman of the Molot trade union, supporter of Citizens of the USSR. Organised rallies in the city. In 2017, after one of the rallies, he was summoned for a conversation at the Centre for Countering Extremism, where he was asked questions about the Artpodgotovka movement and its leader Vyacheslav Maltsev. On 7 June 2018, Shepelev was searched as part of a case of incitement to hatred - the reason for the case could be a social media post in which he used the word "Yid". After the search, the activist was taken away for questioning, Shepelev refused to testify under Article 51 of the Constitution. According to him, the law enforcers induced him to testify against Vyacheslav Maltsev. At the same time, they claimed that they had detained Maltsev and that he, in turn, had already testified against Shepelev. On 15 November 2019, a search came to Shepelev's house, probably due to the fact that shortly before that the organisation "Union of Slavic Forces of Russia", whose followers are considered to be "Citizens of the USSR", had been recognised as extremist. In April 2020, Shepelev was searched again, this time as part of a criminal case on calls for extremist activity, incitement to hatred or enmity and insulting a representative of the authorities. After the search, Shepelev was released on his own recognisance. Later it became known that the case was also initiated on several episodes of public justification of terrorism. On 21 March 2022, Shepelev was sentenced to six years in a general regime colony.