Our sister publication Open Media reported today on a shocking incident in Kaliningrad. A police office stole 200 rubles ($3) from a young boy, who had got the money from his mum for getting good grades. This CCTV footage shows the police officer stepping on the boy’s money and then picking it up.

The Kremlin and the state-sponsored media love purporting that western states (incl. Ukraine) suffer from severe ‘moral deficiencies’ and that Putin and his regime are defenders of superior moral standards. This video demonstrates quite the opposite: even children are victims of the abhorrent, corrupt practices of the Russian police. Back in September children were also victims of police detention during demonstrations against Putin’s deeply unpopular pension reforms. Of course, a fish stinks from the head down: these police officers are probably only imitating the behaviour of their bosses and the bosses of their bosses.