On the country's Independence Day, two Ukrainian women were accused of desecrating a grave when they were caught on camera twerking and dancing on the graves of fallen troops in a Kyiv cemetery. If convicted, they might spend the next five years in prison.Read full article
Last Thursday, August 24, a viral video showed the unidentified sisters breaking into suggestive dancing routines while visiting the tomb of their father, who they claimed was slain defending Ukraine against Russia's invasion near Izium.
The women in crop tops and booty shorts were spotted putting up a camera before backing up to dance between the two soldiers' graves at Forest Cemetery, which were decorated with flowers. In the background of the picture were images of the fallen heroes and the Ukrainian flag.
Less than an hour after becoming aware of the viral video, Kyiv police confirmed in a Telegram post that the women had been arrested.
Photos show that the sisters were photographed in the identical attire that they had in the graveyard video.
Investigators of the Desnyan police department, in agreement with the district prosecutor’s office, started criminal proceedings under Part 2 of Article 297 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — insult to the grave,” the post read in Ukrainian.Ukrainian sisters face 5 years in prison after they were arrested for twerking on the graves of fallen soldiers on Independence Day (Video)
“The issue of notifying them of suspicion is being resolved. Suspects face restriction of liberty for a period of three to five years or deprivation of liberty for the same period.”
Later, the sisters made an appeal on Instagram, writing in a statement that they had initially believed their late father would have approved of their provocative behaviour.
My sister and I want to apologize to everyone, apologize for our thoughtless video. It was absolutely not our aim to denigrate anyone, least of all the memory of our fallen heroes,” the women alternately said in a solemn joint video statement posted to Instagram Monday by the account @vl_lindemann, which had reportedly originally posted the dancing clip.“We understand that our actions had no place where our father is buried with other fallen defenders of Ukraine. We are sincerely sorry and asking to forgive our stupidity.“We completely understand how shameful our act appears, and we are now ashamed. We are asking forgiveness from everyone who might have been offended. Please forgive us for this horrible mistake.”