Ukrainian journalist residing in Catalonia arrested over international arrest warrant

Ukrainian journalist residing in Catalonia Anatoly Shariy, seen as pro-Putin by his critics, has been arrested in his home in Roda de Berà, near Tarragona, over an international arrest warrant issued by Ukraine against him. 

After his detention by Spain's national police, he was taken to the National Court, Spain's top criminal court, in Madrid, where he was provisionally released while his extradition case in Spain continues.  

Judge José Luis Calama decided to not jail him for now as he sees no flight risk, since he is been living in Catalonia since 2016. Yet, the magistrate withheld his passport, prohibited him from leaving Spain, told him to set a residence, and ordered him to appear before his nearest court every two weeks.

Shariy is wanted by Ukrainian authorities for high treason and hate speech.

Indeed, he is under an arrest warrant by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the main intelligence and security agency in the country. 

The SBU accuses him of high treason, punishable with up to 15 years in prison, as the agency has proof that the media professional has acted under the influence of international organizations, according to La Vanguardia. In Ukraine, this means he has been acting for Russian authorities. Shariy did not attend the trial, and is therefore wanted, the Catalan newspaper explained.

Anatoly Shariy, influential journalist seen as pro-Russia 

Anatoly Shariy is an influential journalist with almost three million subscribers on his YouTube channel and a million views of some of his videos within two days.

The Ukrainian national is also a politician back home with his own political party since 2019 and has a large community of social media followers with over half a million subscribers on his Telegram channel. 

Shariy left his country in 2012 to go to the European Union, Lithuania specifically. At the time, some media outlets that spoke to him, including La Vanguardia or Spanish El País newspaper, said he was a journalist reporting on corruption scandals and he had to flee the country for that reason. 

He traveled to Lithuania and requested asylum status. Shariy says he is a political opponent, but critics contradict his motives to abscond saying he is known to be "an opponent to all Ukrainian things," Taras Atamanchuk, a Ukrainian residing in Catalonia that demonstrated in front of Shariy's house on March 24, told Catalan News. 

The trip from Lithuania to Catalonia did not take place until 2016, four years after Shariy had left his home country, La Vanguardia reports. 

Before moving to the Mediterranean, the media professional reported on the 2014 annexation of the Crimean peninsula by Russia. At the time, he became a "pro-Russia propagandist," Atamanchuk told Catalan News over the phone.

"Shariy used to publish maps of Ukraine without Crimea, and he used to say that there had been a coup d'etat, as former Ukrainian president Yanukovich had to leave the country to go to Russia," Atamanchuk says, referring to the Maidan protests.

From there, critics of Anatoly Shariy say he then became "pro-Putin 100%."

However, Shariy contradicted these claims during an interview with the Barcelona-based La Vanguardia newspaper in July 2021. 

When he first arrived in Catalonia, he enjoyed asylum status given by Lithuania, and in 2019, based in Tarragona, founded his political party, the Party of Shariy. 

Rallies outside Shariy's home in Tarragona area

In the past few years, and specifically after Ukraine war broke out, several Ukrainians have demonstrated in front of Anatolii Shariy’s house in Roda de Berà several times, including a rally on March 24 attended by Atamanchuk.

He does not have any asylum status now. In parallel to his extradition case, the Catalan police and a Spanish judge have been investigating the long-term alleged harassment and threats he has been receiving for a while, especially from the Azov Battalion, a far-right former paramilitary group, now part of the National Guard of Ukraine. 

Anatoly Shariy is "a dangerous and violent person, not only for Ukrainians residing in Catalonia, but also for Spaniards living here, such as his neighbors," Atamanchuk says. He believes Shariy has a weapon in his house, although he is not able to provide evidence of his claim. Catalan News cannot confirm the veracity of Atamanchuk claims.