VOLGOGRAD, June 3 (RAPSI) - The Volgograd Regional Court has upheld a decision handed down by a lower court to an Egyptian national for defiling the Eternal Flame war memorial in the southern Russian city of Volgograd, the court said on Monday.

"The lower court ruling was appealed by the convict's attorney," the court said. "The court's criminal board has rejected the appeal and upheld the sentence."

On New Year's Eve, the 29-year-old man urinated on the Eternal Flame on the Heroes Alley in downtown Volgograd and then scuffled with a local resident who rebuked him for doing so.

Upon being detained, the Egyptian told the police that he arrived to Volgograd a month earlier to intern with the Volgograd State Medical University.

He added that he and his flatmates celebrated the holiday on New Year's Eve and took a walk around the city.

On March 22, the Central District Court in Volgograd convicted the Egyptian of defiling a war memorial and deliberately inflicting minor injuries on an individual.

He was sentenced to 1.5 years in a penal colony.

The prosecutors requested a three-year sentence, while the defense attorneys insisted on two months in prison. The man cried during trial and stated that he did not mean to commit the offense.