St. Petersburg court sentences five for desecrating Victory Banner

The St. Petersburg City Court passed a sentence on five defendants in a criminal case involving the desecration of symbols of Russia«s military glory. Demyan Shulkevich, Imran Korkmaz, Matvey Telyakov, Daniil Anisimov, and Mikhail Gordanov were found guilty of committing the crime.

The court established that on June 16 last year, the accused conspired. On the night of June 15–16, Shulkevich and Korkmaz desecrated copies of the Victory Banner displayed on residential buildings in the Kirovsky district of the city. The incidents occurred on Veterans Avenue, Dachny Avenue, and Tanksist Khrustitsky Street.

The young people tore the banners from flagpoles, threw them on the ground, trampled them with their feet, and cut them with a knife. After that, they threw the damaged copies onto container sites for garbage. Some of these actions were filmed on mobile phones and later posted on a public Telegram channel.

At the time of the incidents, Shulkevich, Korkmaz, and Anisimov were minors. All the defendants essentially admitted their guilt, but refused to give testimony in court.

Criminal proceedings against another group member – Tyupalenko – were suspended. This is because he departed to the zone of the special military operation.

According to the court«s decision, Demyan Shulkevich and Imran Korkmaz each received 3.5 years of imprisonment suspended. The probation period for them will be three years. They are also banned for two years from administering websites and publishing materials on the internet.

Matvey Telyakov, Daniil Anisimov, and Mikhail Gordanov were sentenced to 1.5 years of suspended imprisonment with a two-year probation period. They also face a one-year ban on activities related to posting content online.