A resident of Stavropol faces up to three years in prison for lighting a cigarette at the Eternal Flame

A man was detained in Nevinnomyssk, Stavropol. He is suspected of desecrating symbols of the military glory of the Russian Federation and rehabilitating Nazism (Part 3, Article 354.1 of the Criminal Code). He faces up to three years in prison.

According to investigators, the man climbed onto the pedestal of the Eternal Glory obelisk and sat down at the Eternal Flame, where he lit a cigarette. At that very moment, two Cossack vigilantes approached him and detained him. The offender was drunk.

“While at the obelisk, the suspect desecrated the symbol of Russia’s military glory, insulting the memory of the defenders of the Fatherland. A cultural forensic examination has been ordered for the case,” the publication on the website of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for Stavropol Krai says.

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