Ilya was detained in March 2021 and convicted of "participation in group actions that grossly violate public order" and under the article on "hooliganism" for damaging two Beltelecom cameras and making "cynical inscriptions". This happened as part of a criminal case opened after a protest that took place on September 13, 2020 in Brest. During the protest, people sang and danced in circles, and a water cannon was used against them.
Ilya managed to leave Belarus before he began serving his sentence.
In February 2025, as part of the special proceedings on Ilya's case, a court hearing in absentia was held on the issue of "replacing the restriction of freedom with referral to an open-type correctional facility with imprisonment."
