A resident of Kherson was sentenced to two years of imprisonment with a probationary period for disseminating communist symbols on Facebook. The man posted photos of himself wearing a Soviet jacket against the backdrop of the Ukrainian SSR flag and objects bearing banned symbols.
The Kherson City Courthanded downthe sentence on October 20.
The court also ordered the defendant to pay over 5,700 hryvnias in expert examination fees, and ruled that the seized physical evidence—the flag, jacket, and statuette—be destroyed.
During the court hearing, the man fully admitted his guilt. The court considered this a mitigating circumstance.
The case file states that, beginning in February 2021, the defendant systematically posted photographs featuring banned totalitarian symbols on his public social media page. In the photos, the man was dressed in a Soviet police uniform against a backdrop of the Ukrainian SSR flag, figurines, and other items bearing images of a sickle, a hammer, and a five-pointed star.
During a search of the Kherson resident’s home, law enforcement officers seized the items, and art historical expert analyses confirmed that they constituted communist symbols.
The court relied on the search report and the art expert’s conclusion, as well as the records of the examination of the Facebook page in the presence of witnesses and the photo identification conducted by three witnesses.
Юлія Калабайда