A Russian woman was arrested for insulting a monument – 2024-02-10 10:08:25

A Russian court has detained a 23-year-old woman on suspicion of “rehabilitating Nazism” after filming a video mocking a monument dedicated to the Battle of Stalingrad in World War II, the local branch of the Russian Investigative Committee announced yesterday, BTA reported, citing Reuters.

The unnamed woman could face up to five years in prison if convicted of the crime, which is described in part as “dissemination of information clearly disrespectful to society and related to the glory days of battle“.

In the video, taken in July 2023, the woman stands and makes obscene movements under the “Motherland Calls” military monument, dedicated to the turning point of the Second World War, the Battle of Stalingrad. The monument on Mamaev Kurgan Hill is an 85-meter tall statue of a woman with a raised sword in her hand.

The Investigative Committee reported that the detained woman was “committed immoral and cynical acts insulting the symbol of the Soviet people’s steadfastness during the Great Patriotic War” – the term Russia used for World War II.

Authorities opened a criminal case after the woman posted the video on Instagram. Subsequently, the author fled Russia and was declared wanted.
The woman was arrested this week at a Moscow airport on her return to Russia and is being held in pre-trial detention until March 9. A start date for her case has not been announced.