The Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation has appointed an internal audit of the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (PFUR) due to the situation with Ukrainian flags, TASS reported.
The incident, due to which the department ordered an inspection at RUDN University, occurred on February 23: Ukrainian flags were hung at the university next to congratulations on the Defender of the Fatherland Day.
According to the deputy head of the Ministry of Education and Science Konstantin Mogilevsky, “hanging the flags of the state headed by the neo-Nazi regime in the university building is unacceptable.” At the same time, the official noted that Ukrainian students studying at Russian universities must be supported, as they are in a difficult situation.
He also said that according to the results of the check, “the perpetrators will be punished.”
In turn, RUDN students wrote an open letter and explained that the Ukrainian flags were hung out as part of the exhibition of compatriots, where the attributes of various states were presented. According to them, the flags reflected the position of mutual respect for the peoples of different countries.
Earlier, the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office admitted that the demonstration of the Ukrainian flag or pictures in yellow and blue colors “does not in itself constitute an offence.”
“The public display of the Ukrainian flag, as well as the blue and yellow colors that define its color scheme, does not in itself constitute any offense,” the Prosecutor General’s Office said. At the same time, the department emphasized that “the qualification of the actions of a person depends on the totality of the actual circumstances of the case.”