Russia jails two for pro-Ukrainian graffiti
Men had been charged with vandalism and desecration of an anti-fascist monument
MOSCOW (AFP) - A Russian court on Wednesday sentenced two young men to prison sentences for painting Soviet statues in the colours of the Ukrainian flag and daubing pro-Kiev graffiti.
The pair -- Kirill Korzhavin and Vladislav Shipovalov -- were among four men found guilty of smearing a statue of Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin in the Siberian city Novosibirsk with Ukraine s national blue and yellow colours and writing the sign "Glory to Ukraine" on it.
Novosibirsk s Leninsky District Court said in a statement that the men also vandalised the local offices of the pro-Kremlin United Russia and Communist parties, along with a World War II monument, which consists of a Soviet Katyusha rocket launcher, a tank and a plaque with names of local soldiers who perished.
The two monuments were found painted on December 12, 2014. Vandals had also written "Azov," the name of a far-right volunteer battalion fighting on the side of Kiev in eastern Ukraine, and spray painted Azov s symbol, the Wolfsangel, which had been used by several Nazi SS divisions.
The men had been charged with vandalism and desecration of an anti-fascist monument. Korzhavin was sentenced to serve 2.5 years in a penal colony and Shipovalov to two years.
Two other defendants, Sergei Belov and Ivan Kollektsionerov, who was a minor at the time of the alleged crime, were not given jail sentences but instead subjected to tight restrictions on their movements.
Last week a court in Moscow convicted and jailed a 20-year-old man for another painting stunt after a star on top of a Soviet-era skyscraper was covered in Ukrainian colours.
