Russian authorities launch ‘rehabilitating Nazism’ case over children throwing snow at eternal flame monument

Police in Russia’s Leningrad region have arrested three schoolchildren aged 10 and 11 for extinguishing an eternal flame monument by throwing snow on it, the newspaper Fontanka reported on Thursday.

The Investigative Committee’s local branch opened a case on charges of “rehabilitating Nazism,” a felony punishable by up to five years in prison. However, as Russian law prohibits prosecuting children under 16 for felony offenses, the case has reportedly been referred to a juvenile affairs inspector.