Lawyers assess legality of persecution for video with Motherland Monument

Symbols of military glory include any monuments related to the Great Patriotic War (WW II), lawyers have noted. In their opinion, although the blogger, Alyona Agafonova, has committed no real actions against the monument "The Motherland Calls!" in Volgograd; however, her persecution fit into the established practice.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that investigators had reported on the arrest of a resident of Samara, who in the summer of 2023 filmed a video on the Mamayev Kurgan (where the above monument is erected). In the video, the girl pretends to touch the breast of the sculpture "The Motherland Calls!" with her finger, and laughs. She then falls onto the grass at the foot of the monument. Later, she apologized and was arrested until March 10 for desecrating the military glory symbol within the case of "Nazism Rehabilitation".

Any monument related to the Great Patriotic War is treated as a military glory symbol, Artyom Mugunyants, a lawyer, has noted, adding that initiating a case against the blogger is contrary to the law. "There were no real actions, for example, pouring paint, or performing physical actions. There was only a movement towards the symbol. If we had international protection tools, we could have gone there and won the case. But unfortunately, we no longer have such an opportunity," he has stated.

Mr Mugunyants is sure that no hooligan actions against military glory symbols can be treated as Nazism rehabilitation. "In Russia, justice has an accusatory and punitive nature. Since our state has become very touchy, you should not come close to monuments of military glory, and you should not perform any actions against their background ... This is dangerous for your life and health," the lawyer has advised.

Evgeny Chernousov, a lawyer, has noted that one has no need to even touch a monument to become a figurant in a criminal case.

"One can film a video in front of a monument and desecrate it by doing this. It is evident from various incidents that cases are initiated for various reasons, ranging from specific desecration actions to jokes pronounced in front of or addressed to a military glory symbol," the lawyer has summed up.