Photo: the Russian Investigative Committee

Three Russian teenagers have been detained in southwestern Russia’s Stavropol region for burning the Bible on a charcoal grill, the local Investigative Committee reported Friday.

The teenagers shot a video of them burning the New Testament and published it on social media, thus “insulting the feelings of believers”, the investigators said, adding that the suspects were “motivated by religious hatred”.

Stavropol Governor Vladimir Vladimirov published a video on Friday showing the detained teenagers apologising to “all believers” and vowing to “not to do that again”.

“It’s important to apologise,” Vladimirov wrote. “But words can’t undo what happened. The guys ruined their own lives and the lives of their families”.

A criminal case was opened into hooliganism and “public actions insulting the feelings of believers”. If convicted, the teenagers face up to three years behind bars.