Two sisters whose father was killed defending Ukraine against the Russian invasion are facing jail after they filmed themselves dancing and twerking by the graves of fallen soldiers saying they thought their dad would have found it funny.
But after a furious backlash, they admitted they were wrong and that it was inappropriate as police confirmed the two unnamed girls will be charged with desecrating a grave and could face up to five years in prison.
Phone footage shows the two young sisters – dressed in black crop-tops and skin-tight shorts – doing a dance while standing between soldiers’ graves that are adorned with flowers and the Ukrainian flag.
One of them is first seen putting the phone down to record and then begins swaying with her arms in the air.
Her sister, who appears to be talking on her phone, then joins and is seen twerking in front of the camera.
They performed the bizarre act while visiting their father’s grave at the Forest Cemetery in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, on 24th August.
Their father was reportedly a soldier of the 95th Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine who was killed near Izium, in the eastern Donetsk region.
The footage quickly reached local law enforcement after the girls shared it on Instagram, where it generated widespread outrage.
Police tracked them down in less than an hour and they were detained.
Following the strong reaction, one of the sisters took to social media to apologise, saying: “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.”
She said she thought her dad would have found it funny saying: “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 investigation is ongoing.
