- May 3, 2026
- 9:44 pm
- World News
After “we don’t sit in your internet” and “15 days for free supermarket bags“, it seemed that Russian propaganda could no longer surprise… but then ….
The Russian authorities have once again turned the memory of the war into an instruction for loyalty. Citizens were explained where to attach the “St. George’s Ribbon”, for which they will not be punished, and where the line between the “symbol of memory” and “criminal article” lies. – “Such actions are subject to criminal liability under Part 3 of Article 354.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation – a fine of up to 3 million rubles, or imprisonment for up to three years. If the act is committed by a group, then a fine of up to 5 million or up to five years of imprisonment.”
In Russia, the main question before May 9 was found: where to pin the ribbon
In Russia, before May 9, 2026, they again reached the level of great state meanings. No, it’s not about the war against Ukraine, not about the price of human life, not about how the memory of World War II was turned into a justification for new aggression.
In the State Duma, they explained where to properly wear the “St. George’s Ribbon”.
According to the deputy, a member of the State Duma Committee on Labor, Social Policy and Veterans Affairs Ekaterina Stenyakina, the most “respectful” place for the ribbon is on the left chest, near the heart, on the lapel or collar. At the same time, she hastened to “ease the tension” (apparently, the people are worried…): “the law does not establish a strict “dress code” and does not fine for how exactly a person attached the ribbon”.
This was reported by the propaganda resource “RIA Novosti“ on May 2, 2026.
At first glance — an almost harmless news.
But in modern Russia, even such a mundane detail sounds like a symptom. If a state deputy separately explains to citizens that they will not be punished for incorrectly attaching the ribbon, it means that fear is already embedded in the very ritual of memory.
“Near the heart” — and preferably without unnecessary questions
The phrase about “near the heart” looks especially expressive.
Memory, it would seem, does not need instructions. If a person truly remembers their grandfather, great-grandfather, grandmother-nurse, blockade, front, evacuation, concentration camp, hunger, loss of family, then the state should not explain to them on which side of the chest this memory becomes sufficiently correct.
But Russia has long lived in a different logic.
There, memory is not just stored. It is checked.
It needs to be shown on the appointed day, with the appointed symbol, in the appointed tone, and preferably without dangerous questions about the present. Because as soon as the question becomes uncomfortable, it immediately turns out: it is no longer about memory, but about a state cult.
And then the ribbon turns not into a sign of personal history, but into a small pass into the space of “correct” citizens.
The St. George’s Ribbon has long ceased to be just a symbol of memory
Since December 2022, the “St. George’s Ribbon” in Russia has been officially equated with “symbols of military glory”. This is an important detail. It is no longer about a voluntary gesture, not about a family tradition, and not about a private way of remembrance.
It is a “state-protected symbol”.
And where there is state protection of a symbol, punishment for “disrespect” quickly appears nearby.
According to the deputy, responsibility arises not for incorrect wearing, but for public desecration. For example, if the ribbon is demonstratively trampled, torn, combined with a swastika (is that possible? – ed) or offensive inscriptions and distributed on the internet. For such actions in Russia, criminal liability may threaten: fines in the millions of rubles or imprisonment.
Formally, this is called the protection of memory.
In fact, it means something else: the state claims rights not only to the symbol but also to how the citizen should relate to it.
When “they won’t punish” sounds more alarming than a threat
It is especially telling that the Russian deputy separately clarified: if the ribbon is attached to a bag or in the car interior, accidentally fell or got dirty, there is no liability for this.
That is, the citizen is kind of told: don’t worry, if the ribbon got dirty, the state does not yet consider you an enemy of memory.
It is this “yet” in Russian reality that is heard the loudest.
Because the very need for such explanations speaks about the state of society. People are already used to thinking in advance: can they, can’t they, how will it look, who will see, who will report, who will interpret, will the photo end up on the internet, will the gesture be considered wrong.
Thus, memory turns into a safety instruction.
Pinned it wrong — seems like nothing.
Hung it on a bag — for now, it’s okay.
Left it in the car — not scary.
But the line between “nothing” and a criminal article lies where the state decides that respect is insufficient.
For Ukraine and Israel, this is not a decorative story
For Ukrainians, the “St. George’s Ribbon” after 2014 has long ceased to be perceived as a neutral symbol of memory of World War II. After Crimea, Donbas, and Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it became a marker of the “Russian world”, occupation, aggression, and imperial revanche.
This cannot be separated from reality.
When under this symbol came people who justified the seizure of Ukrainian territories, when it appeared next to the slogans of the Russian war, when it was used as a sign of belonging to the Kremlin myth of “liberation”, the former meaning was finally displaced by the new one.
For Israel, this topic is also not foreign.
The country is home to hundreds of thousands of repatriates from Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, the Baltic states, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. Many families have their own memory of World War II, the Holocaust, the front, evacuation, and the Soviet past. And that is why they especially understand here: memory cannot be turned into a state club.
In the middle of this story, NAnews — Israel News | Nikk.Agency sees not just a Russian pre-May ritual, but an important political signal. Moscow continues to build a system where history belongs to the authorities, symbols belong to the authorities, memory belongs to the authorities, and the citizen is left only to properly pin the sign and not ask unnecessary questions.
Memory without freedom becomes propaganda
It must be honestly said: not every person who ever wore the “St. George’s Ribbon” consciously supported the Kremlin or the war. For many, there could have been genuine family pain behind it. Someone truly remembered a deceased relative. Someone carried a personal story, not a political slogan.
But a sincere personal motive does not negate the fact that the state can use this symbol for its own purposes.
This is how personal memory turns into a mass ritual. First, people are told: this is memory. Then: this is a sacred symbol. Then: this is a symbol of military glory. Then: there will be criminal liability for desecration. And then a deputy explains where to “respectfully” wear it.
As a result, a person seems to just pin a ribbon.
But in fact, participates in a system where memory has already been processed by the state, embedded in a television picture, and put at the service of the current war.
The main absurdity is not in the ribbon, but in the fear
The funniest and at the same time the darkest thing in this news is the attempt to present everything as a caring explanation.
The deputy says: don’t be afraid, there is no strict dress code.
But normal memory does not need the words “don’t be afraid”.
If people need to be reassured that they will not be punished for a bag, collar, or car interior, then we are no longer dealing with a culture of memory. We are dealing with a country where even symbols of the past live under the supervision of the criminal code.
Russia loves to talk about “sacred memory”. But the sacred does not need parliamentary instructions. The sacred is not protected by the threat of millions in fines. The sacred is not turned into a test of loyalty in front of a television camera.
Memory either exists or it does not.
And when it needs to be worn “near the heart” on the recommendation of a deputy, it is no longer memory. It becomes a state patch.
Result: ribbon near the heart, control in the head
The story with the “St. George’s Ribbon” shows how far the Russian substitution of meanings has gone. The authorities took a symbol associated with the war of the past and embedded it in the ideology of the war of the present.
Now citizens are explained where to wear it, how to relate to it, what not to do, for what there will be no responsibility, and for what there may be a criminal case.
This is no longer a conversation about veterans.
This is a conversation about a state that fears free memory. Because free memory always asks questions: why war again, why are people dying again, why under slogans about the past is the present being destroyed, why has “never again” in the Russian version turned into “we can repeat”.
When the state explains where to properly attach the ribbon “near the heart”, the problem is no longer in the ribbon.
The problem is that the heart has long been replaced by an instruction.
Memory — by the criminal code.
And respect — by mandatory demonstration of loyalty.
And if before May 9 a citizen needs to separately know how to wear a symbol so as not to look suspicious, then it is no longer a symbol of memory.
It is a small accessory of great fear.