Russian's Note to Late Parents of Putin: 'You Raised a Freak'

St. Petersburg woman left a note on their grave in time for ruler's birthday
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted May 12, 2023 2:20 PM CDT
Russian's Note to Late Parents of Putin: 'You Raised a Freak'
Irina Tsybaneva, 60, stands in a courtroom in St. Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, May 11, 2023. Tsybaneva was charged with desecrating a grave after she left insulting words on the grave of Russian President Vladimir Putin's parents last October.   (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

A woman who tried to hold President Vladimir Putin's deceased parents accountable for their son has been convicted by a Russian court. Irina Tsybaneva, 60, was found guilty of desecrating burial places motivated by political hatred for leaving a note on the parents' grave in October, the day before Putin's birthday. The St. Petersburg woman did not plead guilty, her lawyer said, because she didn't physically desecrate the grave, which is guarded, or try to draw attention to what she'd done, CBS News reports. Tsybaneva had been under house arrest since she was spotted placing the note, per Newsweek; her son said she's an accountant who's never been especially political.

Her note read: "Parents of a maniac, take him to your place. He causes so much pain and trouble. The whole world prays for his death. Death to Putin. You raised a freak and a killer." The court imposed a two-year suspended sentence on Thursday. On a Kremlin website, Putin is quoted as saying, "I come from an ordinary family." His parents reportedly married when they were 17, and Putin was born in Leningrad in 1952. The site describes his mother, Maria Shelomova, as "a very kind, benevolent person." His father, also Vladimir, was a foreman at a factory, per CNN. "My parents never told me anything about themselves," he once said. (More Vladimir Putin stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X