Artur Shashenok

Artur Shashenok

Date of disappearance: November 15 or 16, 2022

Place of disappearance: Berdyansk, Zaporizhzhia region

Artur Shashenok is a resident of Berdyansk. After the start of the full-scale invasion of Russia, he stayed in the occupied city because he was afraid that the Russians would not let him pass their checkpoints. On November 15, 2022, contact with the boy disappeared, and the next day Artur’s mother Halyna learned that the Russians had kidnapped her son and his friend. At first they were kept in a basement in Berdiansk, later moved to Melitopol, and in September 2023, a so-called state lawyer reported that Artur and his friend were taken to Rostov, where they were illegally tried for “terrorism”: they allegedly blew up the deputy occupation head of Berdiansk, Oleh Boyko, and his wife, Olha. The latter were organizing a pseudo-referendum. In letters to his mother, Arthur denies his guilt. In April 2024, the boy was transferred to the closed-type detention center No. 2 in Taganrog. His lawyer was no longer allowed to visit him. Halyna says that her son has lost a lot of weight. During the entire time of his captivity, she was able to send him only one parcel, and the rest were returned. She is appealing to Ukrainian and international authorities to help release her son as soon as possible.

This publication was compiled with the support of the International RenaissanceFoundation. It’s content is the exclusive responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the International Renaissance Foundation.