Ivan Zabavsky went missing in 2022 when he traveled to the occupied village of Tavolzhanka to look for his mother. From conversations with relatives, Marina Zabavskaya learned that her son had gone after her on September 30, after she had already left. In May 2023, Ivan's mother received a response from the Russian Ministry of Defense stating that Ivan had been detained "for opposing the Special Military Forces" and was currently in Russia.

Ivan Zabavsky spoke of constant beatings and hunger—according to him, prisoners were given rations of no more than 100-150 grams. In a letter, he mentioned "long and terrible ten months in captivity, when a day felt like a year, when they beat me at least two, sometimes three times a day." Ivan Zabavsky's lawyer, Andrei Chertkov, speaking to journalists after the verdict, said that his client "spent about ten months" in captivity without any charges being brought (incommunicado).

Ivan Zabavsky was charged with espionage (Article 276 of the Russian Criminal Code).

On January 30, 2025, the St. Petersburg City Court sentenced Zabavsky to 11 years in a maximum-security penal colony on charges of espionage (Article 276 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).