ST. PETERSBURG, May 7 (RAPSI, Mikhail Telekhov) – Two men Alexey Ushakov and Dalgat Radzhi have been fined 25,000 rubles (about $340) each for barbeque in the Sennaya Square (Sennaya Ploshchad) in central St. Petersburg, the United press service of St. Petersburg courts has told RAPSI.

The men pleaded guilty and apologized to police officers, the statement reads.

However, the Oktyabrsky District Court of St. Petersburg reclassified the charges from minor hooliganism to violating the high alert regime introduced over the spread of coronavirus and gave the violators almost a maximum fine.

Minor hooliganism is punishable by fines ranging from 500 to 1,000 rubles; breaching of the high alert mode is punished with fines from 1,000 to 30,000 rubles.

According to case papers, the offenders grilled shashlik and made video to publish on the Internet. Later, they explained in their blog that they did not grill the meat in the square but came there with the cooked shashlik. However, the video showed smoke from the wood-fired grill (mangal).