A monument installed in honor of the combatants and damage inflicted upon memorials led to 253 foreign nationals being charged in absentia, said the head of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Alexander Bastrykin, at the Saint Petersburg International Legal Forum.
"Currently, the investigators of the Investigative Committee are handling 21 criminal cases related to 167 instances of desecration, destruction, and damage to Soviet combatants' military cemeteries, memorials, and monuments located in 15 European countries. For committing the indicated crimes, 253 foreign nationals have been charged in absentia," - Bastrykin stated.
He emphasized that until now, it had not been possible to prosecute foreigners who had never been on Russian territory, but changes introduced in April to Article 247 of the Code of Criminal Procedure allow, in exceptional cases, for the trial of crimes related to light and medium gravity under a specific list of articles of the criminal code, even if the accused is not present.
