Vitali is a fan of the Mazyr football club Slavia. On May 4, 2021, he was detained together with ten other people, mostly fans as well. The authorities called them "members of a right-wing radical football hooligan group" and accused them of taking part in the protests held in Mazyr in August 2020.
In April 2022, Vitali was found guilty in a criminal case initiated under the articles "Organisation and preparation of actions grossly violating public order, or active participation in them" and "Violence or threat of violence against an internal affairs officer" and sentenced to imprisonment in a penal colony.
According to human rights defenders' calculations, he was released in June 2023, after fully serving the sentence imposed by the court.
