Russian man gets 12 years for online harassment that drove Ufa schoolgirl to attempt suicide

The Novgorod District Court in Russia has sentenced 21-year-old Mikhail Shalimov to 12 years in prison after finding that his actions drove a 16-year-old schoolgirl from Ufa to attempt suicide.

According to a court press release, Shalimov first met the girl, identified as Diana, on the social network VK, in a community devoted to the video game Minecraft. A conflict between them escalated over time into a sustained campaign of harassment lasting several months.

Using information available from public sources, Shalimov compiled personal details about Diana, including her home address, phone number, school, and relatives. Over a period of six months, he directly threatened her, sent bomb threats under her name, and set up a channel where he posted videos depicting animal abuse. He also phoned Diana's parents at their workplaces and, impersonating her father, falsely reported a murder to police.

According to reports, Shalimov demanded that the girl kill herself, promising to end the harassment only if she complied. As a result, she attempted suicide.

The court convicted Shalimov of driving a minor to attempt suicide (Article 110, Part 2 of Russia's Criminal Code) and of orchestrating knowingly false reports of terrorist attacks (Article 207, Part 2).

This is not the first case in which online harassment leading to suicide has resulted in a prison sentence in Russia. A series of such convictions has been tied to so-called "death groups," which drew public attention in 2016 after independent outlet Novaya Gazeta published a widely discussed report on a game called "Blue Whale." The first person convicted in connection with the game, Filipp Budeikin, was sentenced in 2017 to three years and four months. A year later, another curator of the game, Ilya Sidorov, received a three-year term. Sentences in similar cases grew notably harsher afterward: by 2019, former curator Alexander Glazov was serving a six-year term, from which he was released early after volunteering to fight against Ukraine, and by 2024 he was giving patriotism talks in schools. In 2025, Ilya Pogiblov, creator of the "Blue Whale" public page, was convicted in one of the most recent "death group" cases and sentenced to nine years.