Russian law enforcement officers celebrate promotion with mafia slogans, triggering official investigation

Russia’s Investigative Committee has opened an official investigation following the appearance of a video in which high-ranking law-enforcement officials celebrated their colleague’s promotion using chants associated with organized crime.

The video was posted by a news outlet called Novy Den (New Day) and was initially recorded in a restaurant in Tyumen. Among those attending the celebration were the regional police chief for combating organized crime, the organized crime chief’s deputy, and other high-ranking officers. They were celebrating the promotion of another investigator, Rafik Agliulin, to the rank of major.

According to Novy Den, the individual who recorded the video during the meal had a criminal record, and it was he who shouted slogans like “AUE” and “Long live the thieves.”

One of the men who attended the event later told the radio station Govorit Moskva (Moscow Speaks) that the slogans were a joke.