Russian man sentenced to 4 years in prison for threatening to ‘piss on’ military symbol

A court in the Russian city of Kemerovo, in western Siberia, has sentenced a local man to four years and four months in prison for promising to “piss on” a St. George ribbon, a Russian military symbol, the regional Prosecutor’s Office said on Monday.

Alexander Panasenko, 31, pleaded guilty to charges of publicly desecrating a symbol of military glory. He was also banned from posting online for three years.

The case arose from a comment Panasenko left in May reacting to a post on popular Russian social media platform VK by a local group, Kuzbass Incident, which reminded readers of their criminal liability should they publicly damage the St. George ribbon. Panasenko wrote: “I bought it and I’ll piss on it. And I don’t care who’s offended.”

A regional pro-government Telegram channel posted an image of Panasenko apologising for the comment in November. He can be seen standing in front of a Russian flag, with a St. George ribbon and the letter Z, a pro-war, nationalist symbol, pinned to his T-shirt.

The St. George ribbon is a Russian military symbol consisting of three black and two orange stripes. Since 2014, the symbol has become associated with pro-Russian and separatist sentiment in Ukraine.