“They cannot explain their position”
On March 7, 2022, four teenagers from Alushta filmed the desecration of the Russian flag. The footage shows how one of the students tore up a small flag hanging on the wall of the building. The young man tried to break it. When this did not happen, he threw the flag on the ground and started to wipe his feet. Then a girl came up to him and together they lifted the flag from the ground and cut it into small pieces.
Then the girl who videotaped what happened asked: “Ukraine, what have you done to Russia?”
At that time, the fourth participant of the event was drawing graffiti on the front door of the building.
According to the Crimean SMERSH Telegram channel, law enforcement agencies quickly established After the young vandals’ identities were not learned, they and their parents were called to the police.
“They shot this video a year ago. <…> They cannot explain their position. All participants are minors, 9th grade students. For them, the issue of a restraining measure is resolved,” the message says.
One of the participants posted a video on March 17, the anniversary of the annexation of Crimea to Russia, which the country celebrated on March 18.
“The issue of starting a criminal case is currently being decided,” social activist Alexander Talipov told reporters on the channel.
In the apology video, two girls and two young men take turns talking about their mistakes.
“On March 7, 2022, we committed an act of desecration of the Russian flag. We sincerely apologize for what we have done. This will never happen again, ”one of the youth promised.
The latter noted that he “repented” of his action and did everything “out of stupidity”.
“I said stupid, thoughtless words. I sincerely repent and respect, love my homeland,” said one of the schoolgirls.
The last member stressed that he understood what he did wrong and believed it was “too stupid”.
“I apologize to the whole country,” he said.
The Readovka Telegram channel found out where the young people supposedly work. The correspondents of the channel contacted the school principal. He said he was aware of the situation and believed that additional work should be done with such children. The director also described the performance as “extremely disgusting”.
According to the Crimean SMERSH Telegram channel, young people have already been “put on all accounts”.
What not to do with the Russian tricolor
On the day of the State Flag, August 22, instructions on what can and cannot be done with the Russian tricolor were published on the website of the State Duma.
The article states that the Russian flag was “born” with the first Russian warships and remained predominantly a part of maritime culture until the 19th century. The tricolor was used in Russia until 1918.
After the era of Soviet power, the tricolor flag was erected on the top of the House of Soviets (White House) on August 22, 1991. In November of the same year, the flag was approved as a state symbol.
The website of the State Duma states that the procedure for using the State Flag of the Russian Federation was established by the federal constitutional law “On the State Flag of the Russian Federation” of December 2000.
“Originally, the law contained only an exhaustive list of mandatory and permissible use of the state symbol, the violation of which was administratively punishable,” the article says.
In 2008, the document granted citizens and organizations the right to use the State Flag in a respectful manner, including official, but stated that “such use would not be disrespectful to the state symbol, but a criminally punishable act.”
For desecration of the Russian flag, violators are threatened with a restriction of freedom of up to one year, or forced labor for the same period, or arrest for a period of three to six months, or imprisonment for up to one year.
“For example, anger will be considered a public expression of disrespect for the state symbol – deliberately burning, destroying, damaging it”, the article explains.
Violation of the procedure for using the flag is punishable by a fine of two to three thousand rubles for citizens, five to seven thousand for officials and 100 to 150 thousand rubles for legal entities.