MOSCOW, January 30. /TASS/. Russia strongly condemns the act of vandalism that was committed in the Armenian capital near the monument to the children of besieged Leningrad, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement.

Earlier on Tuesday, a video posted on the social network TikTok showed one of its users, Samvel Shirinyan, ripping ribbons symbolizing the Russian flag off the monument and stomping on them. He then proceeded to overturn the wreaths and make insulting comments about Russia.

"We strongly condemn the act of vandalism committed at the monument to the children of besieged Leningrad in Yerevan on January 29. We note with deep regret that this is by no means the first case of desecration of monuments that are dedicated to the heroic pages of history shared by Russia and Armenia. We see an outpouring of disgust toward the incident on the part of the friendly Armenian people. We expect the same from the government of the republic, as well as the suppression of such displays of barbarity in the future. Such antics are fueled by the public campaign that was started in the republic to denigrate Russia and its role in the South Caucasus," said the statement published on the ministry’s website.