The head of a kindergarten in southern Russia who was caught on camera shoving a 5-year-old boy to the ground for his alleged lack of patriotism will be fired after the national holidays, authorities said.
Leaked footage of the woman telling the boy to “kiss the ground that feeds you” as she forces him to kneel sparked outrage in Russia’s online community. Russian media identified her as Emma Milner, who runs the “Zvyozdochka” (Little Star) kindergarten in the southern city of Krasnodar.
“You’re choking my kids, scumbag,” she can be heard telling the child in an apparent reference to other kindergartners witnessing the abuse.
She then asks one of the children: “You’re a Russian and this bastard and scoundrel tells you he hates Russia?” before tearing into teachers for “allowing this to happen.”
Police said they had conducted an inspection into her conduct and regional authorities have pledged to fire Milner after the extended May Day and Victory Day holidays in Russia.
Some parents sided with Milner, telling the Komsomolskaya Pravda tabloid that the victim in the video — who they said moved to Krasnodar from the North Caucasus region of Dagestan with his parents — had been violent toward other children.
“Personally, I think it was a set of factors: This child became that feather that broke the elephant’s spine,” a father identified by his first name, Ivan, told the Govorit Moskva radio station Thursday.
