Caputin activists face imprisonment in Czech Republic for drawing Ukrainian flag

The Czech Republic has opened a criminal case against activists of the Kaputin group who in February painted a multi-metre Ukrainian flag on the pavement in front of the Russian embassy residential complex. This is reported by Seznam Spravy.

Activists from the Kaputin group wanted to draw attention to the second anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Police are prosecuting seven people in connection with the fact that in February they drew a Ukrainian flag on the territory of Russian-owned houses in the Prague neighbourhood of Bubenč," the report says.

They face up to three years in prison for defacing property. Prague police spokesman Richard Hrdina confirmed this information, saying that the damage caused is about 50 thousand Czech crowns, and the area where the drawing was made is a nature protection zone.

The flag was drawn by activists from the Kaputin group, who plan to comment on the charge at a press conference on Thursday. They drew the flag right in front of the Russian embassy apartment complex on Svaigerova Street.

The blue-yellow flag was drawn in the courtyard of the fenced compound. According to the activists, the area is public, the property of the Czech state, and the Russian embassy has no contract to use it.

The group said at the time that it wanted to draw attention not only to the second anniversary of Russia's attack on Ukraine, but also to the lack of Western support for Ukraine.

The activists called on the Czech government to seize the frozen assets of Russians in the Czech Republic and send the proceeds to Ukraine.

Police detained eight people at the scene and took them to a police station to explain their actions.

One member of the group, Václav Nemec, who teaches at the Faculty of Arts at Charles University, said he was surprised by the accusations.

We believe that, given the whole context, this should have been a minor offence. For us it was not about damaging someone else's property. It was a political protest, which we consider much more serious than just painting on the pavement,'' he said.

The Kaputin group has opposed Russian aggression in Ukraine since the invasion began. In the past, it has demanded the seizure of a house in Žižkov, owned by the family of a Russian arms dealer, by hanging a banner on it.

The group has also repeatedly displayed a statue depicting Putin on a golden toilet bowl.

Earlier Socialportal reported that in the Czech capital Prague, activists poured ketchup on the Russian Embassy on 8 July.