Yuri is a boiler room operator. He was found guilty of attempting to knock down a national flag from a store in February 2024. The man allegedly "made at least two blows to the shaft." When he failed to knock down the flag, he brought a wooden ladder from the house, climbed up it, grabbed the flag pole with his hands and pulled it down: because of this, the pole broke. According to the indictment, Tomashev then “carelessly crumpled the flag, wrapping it around a tree” and took it to his barn, where he kept it in a bag until the police took it out.
Tomashev admitted guilt. He said that he saw the flag and decided to take it for himself. He was found guilty and sentenced to three months in prison.