Crimean blogger tramples on Ukrainian flag and boasts on Telegram

In Crimea, a blogger was notified of suspicion for publicly desecrating the flag of Ukraine. On New Year's Eve, he trampled on the Ukrainian flag and posted a video with an offensive caption on a pro-Russian Telegram channel.

This is stated in the suspicion of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine.

Law enforcement officers served a notice of suspicion to 27-year-old Igor Chos, a native of Armyansk (Crimea), on the fact of public desecration of the State Flag of Ukraine. The incident occurred on the night of January 1, 2024, in the temporarily occupied territory of the peninsula.

According to the investigation, Chos, acting with direct intent and exceptional cynicism, threw the Ukrainian flag to the ground, trampled on it with his feet and wiped his shoes on it. At the same time, he used foul language and demonstratively disrespected the state symbol that is important to millions of Ukrainians.

The man posted a video of his actions on January 1 at 00:34 on a pro-Russian Telegram channel, accompanied by the caption:"Admin Igor sends New Year's greetings to the Khokhuls".

In the video, he desecrates the flag during a New Year's address with the obvious intention of humiliating Ukrainian state symbols and causing outrage among Ukrainian citizens.

Investigators classified Igor Kos's actions under Part 1 of Article 338 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine - public desecration of the State Flag of Ukraine. He faces up to three years in prison. The investigation is currently ongoing.

Also, the Primorsky District Court of Odesa found a native of the Krasnodar Territory of the Russian Federation guilty of two crimes, one of which is desecration of the state symbols of Ukraine. The man tore down 51 Ukrainian flags from flagpoles on European Square and set them on fire.

He was sentenced to two years in prison for this, but he will spend twice as long in prison because he stole a laptop from a currency exchange office on the same day. He was sentenced to five years in prison for theft in wartime.

Recently, police in Odesa opened a case over the desecration of the Ukrainian national flag: a video was posted online showing a man tearing the flag off the facade of an apartment building. The resident himself explained that the flag, installed by neighbors, covered the lens of his outdoor camera, and after repeated requests to remove it, he got angry and did it himself.

Анна Бальчінос