Valentin Zemlyansky, Anton Yartsev, and Aleksandr Shcheglov are political prisoners
Moscow residents convicted over business cards with a QR code for donations to the Armed Forces of Ukraine left in a club. They say they intended to expose the venue’s owners
On the night of August 18, 2024, OMON officers raided the Moscow club Deep Fried Friends, where an online film screening was taking place. Police had allegedly received a complaint that business cards bearing the club’s logo and advertising donations to the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) had been left in the venue’s restroom. During the raid, officers detained two visitors: hand-to-hand combat coach Valentin Zemlyansky and industrial equipment technician Anton Yartsev. The following day, both were sentenced to 11 days of administrative detention for disobeying police orders. In court, the men stated that they had ‘distributed cards supporting the AFU, decorated in the colours of the Ukrainian flag, in order to compromise the restaurant’s founders’ and that they had acted on instructions from a third person.
However, Zemlyansky and Yartsev were not detained in connection with the criminal case until the following summer. On June 27, 2025, they were placed under house arrest, while the person who had allegedly directed their actions, Aleksandr Shcheglov, was remanded in custody. The case was opened under Article 280.4, Part 3 of the Russian Criminal Code: public calls, via the Internet, for activities directed against the security of the Russian Federation, committed for payment by an organised group.
Zemlyansky and Yartsev maintained that OMON officers arrived at the club following a tip from them and that they had filmed a staged video involving the cards even before the raid. They also stated that they were patriots and believed they were helping the security services “expose” the club’s owners, whom Shcheglov claimed were sympathetic to Ukraine.
The trial also revealed that, as early as 2023, Shcheglov had submitted a denunciation of the club’s management to the FSB through an intermediary. Shcheglov himself stated that he had organised the business-card stunt solely for money, as he was burdened with significant debt, and had no intention of harming Russia. The investigation apparently made no effort to determine who was supposed to pay him.
On December 5, 2025, the court sentenced Valentin Zemlyansky to 5 years in a general-regime penal colony, Anton Yartsev to 5.5 years, and Aleksandr Shcheglov to 6 years’ imprisonment and a fine of 1 million roubles. Zemlyansky and Yartsev were taken into custody in the courtroom.
Regardless of what actually motivated Zemlyansky, Yartsev, and Shcheglov, we consider their prosecution unlawful. Supporting the Ukrainian Armed Forces does not threaten Russia’s security; rather, it is aimed at assisting a country defending itself against aggression.
A detailed description of case and of our position is available on our website.
How can you help?
If you have information about the location of the remand prison or penal colony where Valentin Zemlyansky, Anton Yartsev, or Aleksandr Shcheglov are being held, please let us know via our Telegram bot or by email: [email protected]
You can donate to help all political prisoners in Russia.
