A resident of Crimea has been sentenced to one year in a low-security penal colony for spitting into a box collecting aid for the military.

The Supreme Court of Crimea has sentenced 50-year-old Pyotr Skripnik to one year in a penal colony-settlement for spitting into a donation box collecting aid for Russian soldiers. This was reported by the court’s press service.

He has also been banned from participating in public mass events for two years.

Skripnik was found guilty of desecrating a symbol of military glory (part 3 of article 354.1 of the Criminal Code) and outraging the flag of Russia (article 329 of the Criminal Code).

The verdict was announced on 22 September.

Criminal proceedings were initiated against Skripnik after, in September 2024, he spat into a box collecting aid for Russian soldiers involved in the invasion of Ukraine, in a supermarket. Shoppers could leave various goods in the box for the military. The box itself featured the Russian flag and a St George’s ribbon shaped as the letter Z.

“By his public actions, since the incident took place in a public place—a shop—the defendant expressed his extremely negative attitude towards the defenders of the Motherland by desecrating a symbol of Russia’s military glory, the St George’s ribbon, and his negative attitude towards the state’s Special Military Operation policy by outraging a state symbol of the Russian Federation—the State Flag of the Russian Federation,” the press service statement said.

Skripnik admitted guilt. At his request, the case was considered in a special procedure (that is, without an examination of the evidence).