YouTuber Vitaly to serve sentence in the Philippines; no deportation as Russia, United States refused him
Controversial Russian-American YouTuber Vitaly Zdorovetskiy, who was arrested in Pasay for harassing Filipinos for content, will not be deported to Russia as he stays in the Philippines to serve his sentence.
According to a report by The Philippine STAR, Department of Interior and Local Government Sec. Jonvic Remulla said Russia refused to accept Vitaly back.
Even the United States, where the 33-year-old vlogger is a green card holder, did the same.
"We don’t know where to send him home to,” Remulla said.
Vitaly will undergo trial next week for three counts of unjust vexation. If convicted, he may be imprisoned for three months to a year.
“We will service his sentence. Sinigurado ko po ‘yun," Remulla said.
The secretary noted that Vitaly has requested that the charges be dismissed, citing mental health concerns.
On April 2, Vitaly was caught by Filipino authorities in front of a Pasay hotel based on a BI mission order.
This was after he was seen messing around with Filipinos in Bonifacio Global City by riding a patrol motorcycle, stealing a security guard’s cap multiple times, and playing petty pranks with passersby in his Kick video titled "Vitaly disturbing the peace in the Philippines" with a devil emoji. He also forcibly filmed a security guard who called him out for it. Vitaly then mocked the latter by singing some lines from Lady Gaga’s Paparazzi.
Among other stunts he pulled was stealing a heavy-duty electric fan from a restaurant and bringing it inside a hotel. Zdorovetskiy also drove a tricycle but eventually sideswiped a passenger and slightly crashed into a parked jeepney.
On April 7, Remulla vowed to make Vitaly pay for his actions, not getting any special treatment.
Vitaly has been arrested multiple times for his publicity stunts. In 2016, he was nabbed for illegally climbing the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles. In 2020, he was jailed for climbing one of the Pyramids of Giza, and in April of the same year, he was charged with aggravated battery for assaulting a woman who was jogging in Miami.
Vitaly has over 10 million subscribers on YouTube.
