Russian police seek to remove three eight-year-olds from families for climbing on memorial display

Police in the northern Russian city of Syktyvkar have asked a court to remove three eight-year-old boys from their families after the children climbed on a decorative installation erected for the country’s 9 May Victory Day holiday.

The mother of one of the children, Anna Savelyeva, explained in a video posted on social media that her son and two of his classmates had been placed under preventive supervision after they were caught climbing on the display on 18 April. Police allege that the children damaged the structure while playing on it. Savelyeva’s son, however, maintains that it was already dented before he and his friends climbed on it.

Savelyeva recounted her son’s reaction to the authorities’ involvement:

According to Savelyeva, police have filed a petition in court seeking the removal of all three children from their families and their placement in a juvenile detention facility. She said she has appealed to the regional children’s rights commissioner and prosecutor’s office for help.

Tatyana Kozlova, the children’s rights commissioner for the Komi Republic, told state media that no court ruling on removal has been issued yet, and said the case is scheduled to be reviewed by the city’s juvenile affairs commission on 2 June.

The case has drawn national attention after it was criticised by activist Yekaterina Mizulina, head of the pro-censorship group Safe Internet League. “Clearly the children didn’t think it through,” she wrote. “They may not have even known what they were jumping on. But is destroying families really the right way to preserve historical memory? Is that the future our grandfathers and great-grandfathers fought for? I doubt it.”