Resident of Siberia apologizes for his words addressed to Chechen special forces fighters

Ivan Mikhanovsky, a resident of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, made public a video with his apology for his offensive words addressed to participants in the joint military exercises of the National Guard of Russia and the Chechen SOBR (Special Rapid-Response Unit).

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the practice of public apologies, which is actively used in Chechnya, has spread to other regions in Russia. In particular, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Dagestan has repeatedly released reports with apologies voiced by detainees, although Instagram users criticized the practice in their comments.

The resident of the town of Dudinka in the Krasnoyarsk Territory apologized for his harsh statement about participants of the military exercises, the “Siberia.Realities”* reported on March 29. On the same day, the Telegram channel of the “Siberia.MBKh Media” posted the very video with the apology. The footage shows an episode from the first video, in which a voice-over used a derogatory manner and compared descending paratroopers with animals.

The man in the apology video said that his name was Ivan Mikhanovsky and he noted he was drunk while voicing insults. “Recently I posted a video with dirt, with terrible words about the special forces who came to our place to take part in military exercises. I was drunk when I was saying those words. I want to apologize to all the guys from the National Guard of Russia who came here for training," said the resident of the Krasnoyarsk Territory.

* a cited fragment is a part of the message created and disseminated by a foreign media outlet acting as a foreign agent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 30, 2021 at 12:51 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.