Federation Council Senator Konstantin Dobrynin has challenged the 'roofer' who claimed responsibility for a Ukraine-tinted stunt in Moscow last week to stop hiding behind Facebook and turn himself in.
The politician told Interfax news agency on Monday that the extreme sportsman — who goes by the nickname Mustang Wanted— should walk the talk and surrender to police following his confession in a Facebook post on Friday.
In the post, the Ukrainian sportsman came forward as the man behind a stunt last week which saw one of Moscow's landmark Stalin-era buildings have a flag attached to its spire and its Soviet-star pinnacle covered in yellow and blue paint earlier that week.
"If this Ukrainian 'roofer' says that this story is of his making, then he should voluntarily surrender to the Russian law enforcement, so that the innocent people who have been arrested by our policemen won't suffer," Dobrynin said in the report.
Four Russian climbers were detained over the incident last week and placed under house arrest until Oct. 19, pending a case on charges of hooliganism motivated by political hatred, which could see them serve up to seven years behind bars.
"That's why this Internet-hero will have to face reality, not the Facebook reality and prove to our investigators that he alone is responsible," Dobrynin said, Interfax reported.
He also warned against "politicizing the case," adding it was in essence different from the stunt at Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral by punk group Pussy Riot in 2012 that resulted in years behind bars for two of the participants.
Dobrynin said attaching the flag of "sister country Ukraine" could not be considered vandalism or hooliganism and should instead be judged as damage to property.
In his confession, Mustang Wanted demanded the release of Ukrainian prisoner Nadiya Savchenko — a Ukrainian army navigator who has been charged with complicity in the deaths of a Russian television correspondent and sound producer — in return for a confession in the flesh.
