An anti-war blogger from Shuya, a town in central Russia, was taken to a penal colony and immediately placed in a punishment cell (SHIZO).

Blogger Sergey Veselov from Shuya, who was sentenced to eight years in a penal colony over his videos and posts, has been transferred to Correctional Colony No. 6 in Ivanovo Region and placed in a punitive isolation cell (SHIZO). Veselov’s mother told OVD-Info about this.

In a letter to his mother, the blogger reported that on 3 September his time in isolation was extended, but he did not name the reason for this measure or say how long he would have to spend in the SHIZO.

While at Pre-Trial Detention Centre No. 1 (SIZO-1) in Ivanovo, Veselov was repeatedly sent to the punishment cell, spending more than 170 days there overall. He even spent his 55th birthday there.

Since 2022, four criminal cases against Veselov have reached the courts.

The first case was opened in March 2022 over the inscription “No to war” on the city administration building. The blogger was accused of politically motivated vandalism (Article 214 Part 2 of the Criminal Code). As part of the same case, he also faced several episodes of so-called “discrediting” the army (Article 280.3 Part 1 of the Criminal Code) for YouTube videos. The blogger was fined 350,000 rubles (about US$3,900); he was acquitted on one episode of “discrediting” and the statute of limitations expired for the vandalism charge.

In August 2023, Veselov was sentenced to 300 hours of compulsory labour for insulting a judge (Article 297 Part 2 of the Criminal Code). The case focussed on a video in which the blogger called Judge Nikolay Vergazov, who was setting his pre-trial restrictions for the “discrediting” case, a “patented cretin.”

In May 2024, the blogger was sentenced to two years and one month in a settlement-colony over a “discrediting the army” case (Article 280.3 Part 1 of the Criminal Code) for the video “Don’t confuse Germans with Nazis or Russians with Putinists.”

In February 2025, he received a new sentence for “incitement to terrorism” (Article 205.2 Part 2 of the Criminal Code) and “confidential cooperation with a representative of a foreign state” (Article 275.1 of the Criminal Code). This time, the case was brought over a repost calling on people to join the “Freedom of Russia Legion” and the RDK, as well as a correspondence that Veselov allegedly had in Telegram with Ukrainian intelligence officers. The blogger insisted that he was on trial for his anti-war stance. The total sentence Veselov received was eight years in a penal colony.

In May 2025, Veselov won compensation for moral harm over criminal prosecution under the “discrediting the army” article in a case that was dismissed. An expert assessment found no evidence of a crime in the video in which the man discussed the war in Ukraine and its consequences for Russia. The blogger requested one million rubles in compensation, the prosecutor considered 50,000 rubles reasonable, but the court awarded him 15,000 rubles (about US$165).

You can support Sergey Veselov by sending a paper letter or via our”Vestochka” service:

Veselov Sergey Vladimirovich, born 1970
155644, Ivanovo Region, Yuzhsky district, Talitsy village, 10 Shkolnaya St., Federal Correctional Institution “IK No. 6 UF SIN for Ivanovo Region.”