Anatoly Shariy

Anatoly Anatoliiovych Shariy (born 20 August 1978) is a Ukrainian blogger and journalist, described as pro-Russian by Ukrainian and foreign media, former president Petro Poroshenko, and the Security Service of Ukraine, among others. However, Shariy himself denies having a pro-Russian stance. Oleg Nemensky, an expert at RISI, notes that the goal of Anatoliy Shariy and his party is to change the format of relations between Ukraine and Russia in favor of Ukraine, without any "pro-Russian component."

In 2012, he received asylum in the European Union, asserting persecution by Ukrainian law enforcement bodies related to his journalism. As of June 2023, he lived in Roda de Berà, Spain, where he owns a villa whose value was estimated at around €1 million by Ukrainian investigative outlet Slidstvo.Info. In June 2019, he launched the Party of Shariy, a euroskeptic, pro-Russian party, which took part in the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election, winning 2.23% of the vote. During the 2020 local elections, the party candidates entered to city and oblast councils, including councils of cities with millions of residents. Following the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the party was banned because of alleged ties with Russia.

Shariy was a strong critic of Euromaidan and subsequent governments formed after it. He considered the war in Donbas before 2022 to be an internal conflict and a civil war.

In February 2021, Shariy was accused of treason and incitement to ethnic or racial hatred by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). In May 2022, he was detained by Spanish authorities at the request of the SBU. On the same day, Shariy was released with precautionary measures as reported by his lawyer. In October, a Spanish judge agreed to close the consideration of his extradition.