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Russian activist Rafail Shepelev.
Russian activist Rafail Shepelev disappeared in Georgia in October 2023. It was later revealed that FSB operatives lured him into the occupied Tskhinvali region in South Ossetia before transporting him back to Russia. In December 2024, a Russian court declared Shepelev mentally unfit and ordered him to undergo forced psychiatric treatment. An investigation by the independent human rights project Perviy Otdel (lit. “Department One”) has uncovered how the security services orchestrated the operation.
Since 2017, Rafail Shepelev had participated in “Artpodgotovka” (lit. “artillery bombardment”) — a protest movement led by opposition figure Vyacheslav Maltsev that is known for staging unauthorized rallies and solo pickets across Russia. After several arrests in 2021, Shepelev fled to Georgia, fearing criminal prosecution.
In 2022, Andrei Alshevskikh, a State Duma MP from the ruling United Russia party, reported Shepelev to the police, accusing him of “discrediting the Russian military” and “justifying terrorism” through his social media posts. This led to criminal charges against Shepelev.
While in Georgia, Shepelev attempted to contact Ukrainian officials in an effort to join the Ukrainian military. He initially spoke with Ukrainian politician Serhii Harkusha, and later with activist Artyom Kozlov, who introduced him to a man named Trofim, who claimed he could help him cross into Ukraine. Another contact, “Alexei from the SBU” (Ukraine’s Security Service), also established communication with Shepelev.
Under Alexei’s instructions, Shepelev recorded a video pledge of his allegiance to Ukraine, vowing to support the country any way he could. Soon after, he was given a task: in exchange for $2,000, he was to transport three packages from the coastal city of Batumi to the Russian border at the Verkhniy Lars checkpoint; the packages allegedly contained the necessary components for an explosive device.
In July, Shepelev picked up the first package in Batumi and delivered it to a spot near the Darial Monastery, close to the Verkhny Lars border crossing. Shortly afterward, 400 Georgian lari (around $140) was deposited into his bank account from an unknown sender.
However, after transporting the second package, Shepelev noticed he was being followed — strangers photographed him and asked questions. He reported this to Alexei, after which the surveillance seemed to stop.
Becoming wary, Shepelev told his handler that he would not continue transporting packages unless Ukrainian authorities contacted Artpodgotovka leader Maltsev directly.
A week later, the activist Kozlov called Shepelev, claiming that Artpodgotovka supporters were being evacuated to Poland. Shortly thereafter, Alexei confirmed the operation, urging Shepelev not to discuss it so as to protect others involved.
Skeptical, Shepelev reached out to Maltsev himself.
“What the hell are you talking about? I don’t know any Alexei, and I never negotiated anything. Don’t you see you’re being played like a child?” Maltsev responded.
Shepelev, however, did not believe him, assuming Maltsev’s denial was being made for security reasons. Convinced that the SBU was assisting him, Shepelev agreed to deliver the third package to Verkhniy Lars.
On the day of his disappearance, Shepelev followed Alexei’s instructions — traveling to Gori, then taking a taxi to a small village. The coordinates sent to him led into the mountains — toward the border between Georgia and the occupied Tskhinvali region in South Ossetia.
There, in a forested area, Shepelev was ambushed by six men in camouflage, who identified themselves as SBU operatives. One of them even carried a backpack with a Ukrainian emblem.
After they had crossed the Russian border, the men blindfolded him with tape, dressed him in military fatigues, and transported him in an armored personnel carrier to a military base. From there, Shepelev was transferred to a bus, taken to Vladikavkaz, and handed over to Russian security forces.
In reality, Trofim and Alexei — whom Shepelev believed were sending him instructions on behalf of the Ukrainian SBU — were agents of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB).
Based on case materials and other sources, Perviy Otdel identified “Trofim” as Lieutenant Artyom Samunenkov from the Tagil branch of the FSB. “Alexei from the SBU” is believed to be Andrei Gvozdikov, a former chief of staff for the Yekaterinburg police who transferred to the Sverdlovsk Region’s Prosecutor’s Office in 2020.
As for activist Artyom Kozlov, the human rights advocates suspect that he knowingly participated in the FSB setup. A former classmate of Kozlov’s revealed that he had traveled to Donbas in the mid-2010s and worked as a clerk at the headquarters of “Motorola” (Arsen Pavlov) — a notorious pro-Russian militant commander who led the Sparta Battalion in the Moscow-backed Donetsk “people's republic” until his death in 2016.
Shepelev’s case is not the first example of the abduction of a Russian dissident from the territory of Georgia. In April 2022, another Russian citizen, Ilkin Melikov, a recognized political prisoner from Nizhnevartovsk, was kidnapped from Georgia under similar circumstances.