So, on May 10, the publication 78.ru reported on a Petersburger who complained about the fashion historian and TV presenter Alexander Vasiliev because of the colors of his clothes. A resident of the city was so outraged by Alexander Vasiliev’s outfit (yellow hat and blue jacket) that she wrote a statement to the police.
“How so? At a time when all the patriots of Russia wish victory for our military in the NVO in Ukraine, are there people on our Russian channels who allow themselves to propagate the symbols of Ukraine?” — quotes her publication. It is noteworthy that a ten-year-old program, which was shown again on one of the TV channels, was criticized. The Fashion Sentence program, hosted by Alexander Vasilyev, was taken off the air of Channel One in early March 2022, shortly after the outbreak of hostilities. Then this was explained by a change in the broadcasting schedule in favor of programs of a socio-political direction.
There has not yet been a public reaction from Alexander Vasiliev to the complaint to the police. RBC Petersburg sent him a request to comment on the situation.
Another incident involving law enforcement due to “unpatriotic” colors occurred the day before. On May 9, a man contacted the police, claiming a Ukrainian flag hung on the balcony of one of the apartments in a house on Irinovsky Prospekt (Krasnogvardeisky district of St. Petersburg). The police squad that arrived at the indicated address did not find the flag of the neighboring state – it turned out that yellow, white and blue balloons hung on the balcony. According to Fontanka, after a “preventive conversation” with the police, they had to be removed.
Another incident occurred during the May holidays in the village of Khamontovo (Volkhov district of the Leningrad region). The man noticed that the roof of the hayloft of a local farmer was similar in color to the flag of Ukraine. He recorded the “violation” on photos and videos and filed a complaint, according to 47news, not only to the police, but also to the FSB. “Police officers from the administration arrived yesterday. All normal guys, in a good way. They understand it’s absurd. But there are a lot of idiots, maybe some summer resident came from the city, ”the farmer quotes the publication.