Chelyabinsk Court Sentences Men for Tearing Passport in Video
The tearing of the national emblem on a passport prompted a criminal case for desecrating state symbols.
In Chelyabinsk, two men aged 20 and 22, who tore up a Russian passport on video, were sentenced to forced labor for seven months with 10% of their wages withheld for the state. This was reported on Monday, February 2, by senior assistant regional prosecutor Natalya Mamaeva.
The incident gained attention after being shared on Telegram, resulting in legal proceedings.
The magistrate court of the Central District found that in October 2025, the young men tore up the passport in a nightclub and threw it in the trash. They were both drunk, recorded the incident on video, and then posted it online.
Footage showing the passport being torn was published online, which led to arrests and public apologies.
«After studying the verdict, the prosecutor»s office will assess its legality,« clarified Natalya Mamaeva. »In addition, the prosecutor directed the court to send a copy of the verdict that has entered into force to the migration service to resolve the issue of depriving one of the convicted of Russian citizenship due to committing a crime aimed against the state symbols of the Russian Federation.«
As previously reported by 74.RU, one of the convicted is from Kazakhstan and recently obtained Russian citizenship.
Under Article 329 of the Russian Criminal Code, various types of punishment are provided: restriction of freedom for up to one year, or forced labor for the same term, or arrest for a term of three to six months, or deprivation of freedom for up to one year.
Recall that two video recordings in which a group of young people tear up a Russian passport were published on her Telegram channel by Yekaterina Mizulina. A few hours later, the head of the Safe Internet League reported that the blogger was detained. The young men recorded a video with apologies.
