(NewsGlobal.com)- It was reported last Friday that early on in Russia’s war with Ukraine, a 40-year-old Moscow man was fined 10,000 rubles for an “unauthorized protest.”
And by “unauthorized protest,” Russia means wearing blue sneakers with yellow soles. Blue and yellow are also the colors on the Ukrainian flag.
According to news reports, on March 6, the man was on his way to the store as anti-war demonstrations were taking place in Moscow. Presuming that the man was on his way to join the protests, police stopped him, placed him in a “paddy wagon,” and told him that his shoes were a “political agitation.”
Nearly 2,000 people were detained during the March 6 demonstrations in Moscow. Sneaker Guy just got caught up in the sweep. It’s his dumb luck that his sneakers were the same color as Ukraine’s flag.
According to Radio Free Europe, the man’s lawyer, Ilya Utkin said that his client wasn’t involved in any of the protests; he was just out buying gifts for his family when he was stopped by police.
Oddly enough, they weren’t the Fashion Police.
The Butyrsky District Court in Moscow charged Sneaker Guy with violating Part 5 of Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses and fined him 10,000 rubles.
But Sneaker Guy isn’t the last Russian to get on the wrong side of hyper-sensitive Russian police.
In late March, a Moscow man was detained for holding a Mir credit card, a “world” card that stood for “peace.”
Last week, police determined that dancing to the Soviet-era song “Let there always be sunshine” is now seen as an “anti-war manifestation.”
Another man who posted “*** ****” was detained after a court determined that it was akin to the slogan “no to war.”
