Russian governor sacks local politician whose daughter threatened to send enemy to war in Ukraine

A local politician in the Vologda region of northwestern Russia has been dismissed from her post after her daughter posted a video threatening to send an enemy to the war in Ukraine, Governor Georgy Filimonov announced via Telegram on Monday.

Yulia Shevtsova, who had served as head of the Nyuksenitsa district since October, was fired because her daughter’s offence was “incompatible with the rules, principles and ideology of the work of the Vologda region government team,” Filimonov said, adding that he had come to his decision based on “a pragmatic and objective analysis of the situation”.

Shevtsova’s daughter, Ksenia, posted a video in October, which only went viral this month, where she said to an unnamed man, “You’ve got some nerve, idiot. Do you know who my mum is? She’s the mayor. We’ll send you to the special military operation,” a term used in Russian propaganda to refer to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

When locals who had seen the video demanded an explanation, her mother posted another video apologising, saying “children make mistakes”.

Filimonov said Shevtsova would “in all likelihood” be replaced in her post by a war veteran. He condemned Ksenia’s words, saying that fighting in the war with Ukraine was “a privilege, not a punishment”.

“Her statements on a topic which is sacrosanct and sensitive for us all were unacceptable, offensive and vulgar,” Filimonov wrote, adding that Ksenia Shevtsova had “conveyed her sincere and tearful apologies in a video” but he chose not to upload it to “protect the girl from harassment in the comments”.