The apparent evidence was an online video that showed bass player Jared Hasselhoff urinating on the Ukrainian flag during a concert in Odesa on July 30. Yet another video of the same moment, but from the different angle, showed that the Ukrainian flag was just hanging on the stage while the band member pretended to emit some form of liquid not part as part of a prank – leaving the flag unaffected.

Whatever the case, the Ukrainian Security Service banned Hasselhoff from entering the country for 5 years. Nobody noticed, including Ukraine’s KGB successor agency, that in another shot, Hasselhoff displayed his actual penis wrapped in a small Ukrainian flag. The American musician probably isn’t losing sleep over the entry ban into Ukraine, but the punishment wasn’t a fair one.

Isn’t the hasty decision too obvious? A band member is forbidden entrance even before the facts of flag abuse are thoroughly examined. Ukrainian police launched criminal proceedings and cannot find the other video, showing what had actually happened. Taking into account the angry reaction from Russia, it appears that Ukraine wanted to show solidarity with its big neighbor to the northeast.

“Don’t tell Putin,” Hasselhoff whispered from the stage to his fans when taking the Russian flag out of the backside of his pants. That might be the thing that Ukrainian officials are most worried about. The Russian flag was in the pants of an American rocker while the Ukrainian flag was safely hanging on the stage. Putin would eventually find out anyway, perhaps providing reasons for another trade war.

The Kyiv Post cannot condone the desecration of someone’s national flag, but the actual act must take place. And to show so much empathy and solidarity with a neighboring country doesn’t always translate into being a truly independent state.