Police have forced a man to publicly apologise after his young children damaged portraits of soldiers who had fought in Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The video showing the man apologising was published by the Telegram channel Criminal Chronicle, which is believed to be linked to law enforcement. He said that at the time of the incident, his twin children were walking with their grandfather, who was distracted and did not notice them drawing on the portraits with a marker. According to the father, when the grandfather realised what had happened, he went to a shop to buy wet wipes and tried to clean the marks together with the children, but was unsuccessful.
The children are likely not older than 10 years old.
‘We condemn this ourselves, we do not approve of it. The children will also be given a serious talk. There was no malicious intent, it was just childish mischief’, the father said.
The father of the children in the video does not reveal his name or the names of his children. The boys’ faces are also covered in the video.
There have been no official comments from law enforcement on whether the father or other family members face administrative or criminal liability.
According to information published on the Telegram channel of Makhachkala Mayor Dzhambulat Salavov, at least four images were damaged. The photographs showed holes and marks, apparently left by a ballpoint pen and crayons. Regional authorities have described the incident as ‘desecration’ and ‘an act of vandalism’. Salavov arrived at the scene and stated that the actions of the unknown individuals could not be regarded as mere hooliganism.
‘This act is not just hooliganism but a deep insult not only to the warriors who gave their lives, but also to their families and to all the residents of the city,’ he said.
He promised that the damaged images would be replaced.
The installation of billboards with photographs of participants in Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine is part of a campaign by regional authorities to commemorate the dead and to demonstrate public support for the invasion. Such boards and banners appeared in Makhachkala and other cities of Daghestan after the launch of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 and are regularly updated, displaying portraits of residents of the region who took part in the fighting.
Daghestan is among the Russian regions with the highest losses in the invasion. According to Mediazona and the BBC, which maintain a list of killed Russian soldiers, as of August, at least 1,642 soldiers from Daghestan have been confirmed to have been killed in the war in Ukraine.
Elizaveta Chukharova
