Monk Hilarion (in the world — Nikolai Shatkovsky), 58 years old, lives in the village of Khokhlovo (Belgorod oblast). He published anti-war statements on social media. In a video, he said that he did not believe the propaganda that calls the West evil. From 15 October 2022, contact with him was lost and he did not appear in social messengers. His neighbour said that he saw how the security forces took the monk away from his house. Ten days later, human rights activists from OVD-Info found the monk in the police. On 26 October, Shatkovsky was transferred from the police department in Valuyki to the oblast department of the FSB. He was provided with a state lawyer for his defence. A case was initiated against him under article 205.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (Public calls for terrorist activities, public justification of terrorism or propaganda of terrorism). He was moved to the pre-trial detention centre no. 3 in Belgorod.
On 28 July 2023, the Belgorod state TV channel broadcast a story that Hilarion “called for reprisals against officials and law enforcement officers.” For this, he was sentenced to 5 years in prison under Art. 205.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (Public calls for terrorist activities, public justification of terrorism or propaganda of terrorism).
