Featured Image Credit: CEN
Topics: News, World News, Ukraine, Social Media
Kit Roberts
Two sisters could be facing jail time after posting a video of themselves dancing by the graves of Ukrainian soldiers.
The pair had been visiting their father's grave - which was surrounded by flowers and Ukrainian flags - when they recorded the video.
They initially claimed that the bizarre act was in keeping with their late dad's sense of humour.
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In the clip, the two women can be seen dancing and striking poses in Forest Cemetery in Kyiv on 24 August.
One of them puts down her phone and sways her hips with her arms in the air. The other then comes in front of the camera and twerks.
The two women were arrested after the video was picked up by Ukrainian law enforcement online, where it generated widespread outrage after being posted.
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Officials tracked them down less than an hour after becoming aware of the post.
Both women have since apologised on social media for posting the video.
They explained that they had been going to visit the grave of their late father. He had reportedly been a soldier in the 95th Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
He was killed near to Izium in the eastern Donetsk region of the country.
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This is a part of the Donbas in Eastern Ukraine, a region which has seen heavy fighting.
It has been at the centre of conflict since 2014, with Russia claiming that the territory belongs to them, citing a large Russian-speaking population.
In an apology posted online, one of the sisters said: "My sister and I apologise. We honour every fallen soldier for our homeland.
"We visited the grave of our fallen father, who died near Izium. Unfortunately, it was not very correct to post this kind of video, although we did not intend to defame heroes."
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She added: "Our behaviour was connected to our understanding of our late father's perspective on burial customs.
"So we didn't see anything wrong at the time, but now we regret it."
The pair face charges of desecrating a grave, which can carry a sentence of up to five years in prison.
It's not the first time that people have gotten into hot water for filming pictures and videos for social media in inappropriate locations.
In 2021, TikTok account @influncersinthewild posted a shocking video of someone posing for a social media picture in the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin.
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A video showed the influencer sitting on one of the concrete blocks striking a pose for the camera.