St. Petersburg, 4 Sep. The Tosnensky City Court of the Leningrad Region has fined a businessman 2.4 million rubles ($2.5 million) whose company damaged the burial place of soldiers of the Great Patriotic War during earthworks, the region's prosecutor's office said.
As the authorities of the Leningrad region clarified in their telegram channel, this is the first sentence in Russia for damaging a military grave.
Yuri Matsko, being the CEO of the company, did not stop the excavation work, which she was engaged in in March-June 2021, although he knew that the remains of soldiers who died during the Great Patriotic War were located on this territory in the village of Telmana.
This led to damage to the graves and «relocation of the remains,» the prosecutor's office of the Leningrad region specifies.
Matsko was found guilty of «damaging military graves that perpetuate the memory of those who died defending the Fatherland.» He did not admit guilt and did not repent, the prosecutor's office notes.
«The court, taking into account the identity of the defendant, the absence of aggravating circumstances, and the presence of mitigating circumstances, namely the presence of a minor child, imposed a fine of 2.4 million rubles, the seizure of property was retained» , the message says.
The regional department of the SUSK noted that on the basis of the submission of the investigative agency submitted to the administration of the Leningrad Region, «measures were taken to restore the damaged military burial» and its «inclusion in the list of cultural heritage sites of regional significance.»