The “Immortal Regiment” procession took place in Perm without any ban on flags, victory banners and portraits of military leaders, including a portrait of Stalin, the Krasnaya Vesna correspondent reports on May 9.
Perm residents en masse participated in the action with flags previously banned in the Perm “Immortal Regiment”: victory banners, Soviet flags and St. George ribbon flags. During the procession hundreds of flags of this type could be seen, so the regiment’s columns were painted red.
This was strikingly different from the situation a year ago, when flags, including the Banner of Victory, were banned on the initiative of the coordinator of the Immortal Regiment, Anna Otmakhova. The police did not allow citizens with flags to pass and those who displayed them in columns were forcibly expelled from the procession.
The civic initiative “May 9 with the Victory Flag” contributed to the massive participation of citizens with Flags of Victory. On the initiative of the Perm branch of the “Essence of Time” movement, the civil committee “In defense of cultural heritage” headed by Igor Tyulenev, the “Great Fatherland” party, teachers and public activists, bought about a hundred Perm residents. Flags-copies of the Victory Banner to participate in the procession. Video recordings of procession participants passing through the inspection areas were also organized to monitor compliance with the law on the Banner of Victory, according to which it is illegal to prohibit participation with a copy of the Banner of Victory.
In addition, the public organizations “Combat Brotherhood” and “Russian Union of Afghanistan Veterans” participated in the Immortal Regiment with Banners of Victory.
The “Great Homeland” party carried out a “general’s company” action. They produced 50 portraits of generals and marshals of the Soviet Union who participated in the Great Patriotic War, including a portrait of Stalin.
However, while government officials (police and administration officials) showed no initiative to ban objectionable flags or portraits, volunteers from the NGO Regimiento Inmortal. Perm” by Anna Otmakhova tried to implement such bans. People carrying victory banners folded on frames were asked if they were carrying Soviet flags, which means they were banned. Then the volunteers approached the accordionist and asked him not to perform songs about Stalin. And although such songs had never been performed before, the Permians had no choice but to immediately sing “Let’s drink to the Fatherland, let’s drink to Stalin!” The volunteers also asked to remove Stalin’s portrait, as it could supposedly provoke fights. The girls claimed that this “order” had been given to them by the head of the “victory volunteers”, Veronika Nikolaevna Sharlaimova.
The participants of the “Immortal Regiment” tried to calm the young volunteers and advised them not to listen to their “pitiful instructors”, who cause tension, but to enjoy the festive and joyful atmosphere that reigned in the “Immortal Regiment”. The volunteers asked the police for help, but the police only calmed them down and did not interfere with the procession. The picture was fundamentally different from last year, when it appeared that police officers were being led by an NGO and its volunteers, causing the police to stir up tension and anger against themselves.
We also note that on May 8 on the public VKontakte page “Immortal Regiment. Permanent” appeared photo with the text titled “Rules for visiting the 2019 Immortal Regiment Perm event”. The rules “allowed” participation with portraits of their veteran relatives, as well as participation with a copy of the Victory Banner of the given sample. And participation with all other flags was “prohibited.” “carry portraits of the country’s military leaders and commanders”. About this Anna Otmakhova May 8 fixed in an interview with RBC. However, it turned out that the authorities refused to apply these bans to Otmakhova’s NGOs.
Recall that after the Victory Flags in the “Immortal Regiment”, the “Essence of Time” movement, the civil committee “In Defense of Cultural Heritage” and other activists held protests in Perm a year ago, they were banned. They wrote complaints to the prosecutor’s office, and trials were held in district and regional courts. Thanks to extensive publicity in the media and social networks, what happened in Perm received a great resonance throughout Russia. The result of civic activity was a complete refusal to implement the absurd prohibitions of the authorities to participate in the action of the “Immortal Regiment” in Perm.
Source: Rossa Primavera
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