Russia Opens 2 More Criminal Cases Over Nazi Photos On WWII Commemorative Website

Russia Opens 2 More Criminal Cases Over Nazi Photos on WWII Commemorative Website

The Russian Investigative Committee has launched two more criminal cases over the publication of photographs of Nazi figures on the website of the Immortal Regiment project, a campaign designed to commemorate Soviet soldiers fallen in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, the official spokeswoman said on Saturday

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th July, 2020) The Russian Investigative Committee has launched two more criminal cases over the publication of photographs of Nazi figures on the website of the Immortal Regiment project, a campaign designed to commemorate Soviet soldiers fallen in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, the official spokeswoman said on Saturday.

The Immortal Regiment march is held annually on May 9, when people gather together to carry photographs of their relatives fallen in the war. This year, the event was held online due to COVID-19 restrictions. People posted photos of their heroes via the campaign's official website. Investigators earlier unidentified several individuals, including Russian citizens and nationals of Ukraine, Estonia and other countries, who tried to publish photos of Nazis.

"In connection with posting photos of Hitler and Shkuro on the internet, criminal cases have been initiated on the grounds of a crime under part 1 of article 354.1 of the criminal code of the Russian Federation - rehabilitation of Nazism, that is, public endorsement of crimes established by the verdict of the Nuremberg military tribunal," Svetlana Petrenko said.

One of the accused is a resident of the Siberian city of Kemerovo, who posted a photo of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. The other is a resident of the western Russian city of Perm, who published a picture of Andrei Shkuro, a commander of a Nazi SS force.