Pre-trial investigation launched after Ruginienė’s advisor’s brother damages US flag

A pre-trial investigation has been launched after a young man, identified as the brother of an advisor to Lithuania’s acting Prime Minister Ingrida Ruginienė, was detained for damaging a US flag during a ceremony in Vilnius, LRT reports.

The incident occurred early Saturday near the Vilnius TV Tower, where a large US flag was being raised to mark the 250th anniversary of US independence. According to police, the 20-year-old suspect, Saulius Vinokuras—brother of Tadas Vinokuras, an advisor to Ruginienė—climbed over a fence and began tearing the flag while making inflammatory statements. He was later released after questioning.

The investigation is being conducted under a criminal code article covering public order violations, which includes acts of vandalism or aggressive behavior that disrupt public peace. Convictions under this article can result in fines, community service, or imprisonment for up to two years.

Saulius Vinokuras has previously drawn police attention. Last year, he admitted to placing posters criticizing Israel’s actions in Gaza at the Paneriai Forest Holocaust memorial site in Vilnius, an act condemned by Lithuania’s foreign ministry and Israel’s ambassador as a desecration of Holocaust victims’ memory.

In a social media post at the time, Vinokuras stated that he and others removed ribbons left by Israeli officials, which they considered an insult to the memorial, and replaced them with messages in Yiddish, Arabic, and English reading, “Never again to anyone.”

The US flag raised at the TV Tower was the largest foreign flag ever displayed in Lithuania, measuring 540 square meters and weighing 70 kilograms.