Ilya was keen on photography. Pictures from his camera later became evidence in the criminal case.
On February 1, 2022, he was detained. He was first sentenced to administrative arrest, but when it ended he was not released and was transferred to a pre-trial detention center instead.
In September 2022, Ilya was found guilty in a criminal case initiated under the articles on insulting Lukashenko and on active participation in actions grossly violating public order, for taking part in burning an effigy depicting Lukashenko and in a protest march held in Minsk in 2020. The Minsktrans company filed a claim of 15,000 Belarusian rubles against those convicted in this case, a total amount for all of them.
According to human rights defenders' calculations, he was released in October 2024, after fully serving the sentence imposed by the court.
