Woman arrested for video of her tickling the chest of World War II memorial

A Russian woman was arrested upon her arrival in Moscow on Thursday for a video she posted in July in which she appears to tickle the chest of Volgograd’s World War II monument, The Motherland Calls, according to the Volgograd Investigative Committee.

Alyona Agafova posted a video in July that shows her pretending to tickle the breasts of the 85-metre high monument. She has now been charged with desecrating symbols of Russia’s military glory and insulting the memory of “defenders of the fatherland” and could face up to five years in prison.

The authorities were reportedly made aware of the video when a Kremlin supporter made a complaint about it last year. A court subsequently opened a criminal case against Agafova, after which she fled Russia and was placed on the wanted list.

In an apology video, Agafova asked for forgiveness from “all citizens of Russia” and said that in her “stupidity” she had not considered that her actions could “hurt someone’s feelings”.