St. George Ribbon. Archive photoCHISINAU, May 13.The speaker of the Moldovan parliament, Igor Grosu, threatened to punish the deputies who wore the St. George ribbon banned in the country on Victory Day. The politician stressed that the wearing of the St. George ribbon by deputies cannot be ignored, since most of the population of Moldova recognized the law banning this symbol, although they celebrated Victory Day, went to monuments, but did not wear the ribbon. Earlier, the head of the General Inspectorate of Police, Viorel Cernauteanu, said that law enforcement officers have identified 17 deputies of parliament who wore the St. George ribbon banned in the country on Victory Day, they can be deprived of their immunity in order to bring them to administrative responsibility. According to local legislation, for this, the Prosecutor General must apply to the leadership of the parliament, in which the request is first considered by the legal commission, and then submitted to the plenum. />More than a hundred residents of Moldova will be punished for wearing the St. George ribbonIn Moldova, on April 20, the ban on the St. George ribbon and the symbols V and Z came into force. Russian Senator Olga Kovitidi said that this decision could aggravate the already unstable situation in Moldova, where local authorities are unable to «adequately assess rapidly developing situation both in the country and abroad. According to the ex-president of the republic, Igor Dodon, it is easier for the current leadership to deal with symbols than with poverty and other problems. More than 50% of Moldovan residents do not approve of the ban on the St. George ribbon, according to a survey conducted by the CBS-Research Center for Sociological Research. The St. George ribbon is an integral part of many military awards of the Russian Empire, the USSR and the Russian Federation. At the beginning of the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine in 2014, this symbol was used by militia fighters and volunteers who fought on the side of the DPR and LPR against the Ukrainian security forces. The Latin letters Z and V are painted on the sides of Russian military equipment participating in the military operation in Ukraine since February 24, 2022. In Russia, the letter Z has already become an unofficial symbol of support for the operation.
