Compiled lists of worshippers for FSB: SSU has notified Sharlay – Putin’s "trusted representative" in Melitopol – of charges. PHOTO
The Security Service has documented the crimes of Artem Sharlay – head of the ‘department for work with religious organisations’ of the Russian Federation’s occupation administration in the temporarily occupied part of the Zaporizhzhia region.
This was reported by Censor.NET, citing the SSU press centre.
Organising repression and collaborating with the FSB
It is noted that in 2024, he became Putin’s "trusted representative" in the temporarily occupied city of Melitopol during the presidential elections in Russia.
As the investigation revealed, this individual was involved in organising mass repression against local religious communities that resist the Kremlin regime or refuse to join dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church.
According to the case file, Sharlay was authorised by the local Gauleiter to compile lists of pro-Ukrainian parishioners for the FSB.
Torture and imprisonment of believers in occupied Zaporizhzhia region
The enemy subsequently uses this individual’s "reports" to carry out raids against the clergy in question and their parishioners.
During such raids, the Russian occupiers abduct people right in the middle of the street or from their own homes and imprison them in the occupiers’ prisons.
"In these dungeons, they are subjected to brutal torture, ranging from regular beatings to suffocation by having plastic bags placed over the victims’ heads. In this way, the enemy attempts to coerce members of religious communities into supporting Russian occupation," the SSU explained.
It has been established that as far back as 2014, Sharlay supported Russian-controlled terrorist groups in eastern Ukraine, and after the start of the full-scale war, he joined the ranks of the occupying administration in Melitopol.
Suspected war crimes
Investigators from the Security Service have now notified Sharlay in absentia that he is suspected of an offence under Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (war crimes).
Comprehensive measures are ongoing to bring him to justice.
