A briefing by officials with an inverted tricolor flag sparked criticism in Dagestan.

During a briefing by the leadership of the Dagestan Ministry of Energy, a Russian flag was placed upside down on a table. Journalists and residents of the republic criticized the officials.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," at a briefing on December 17, the Dagestan Ministry of Energy reported positive trends in providing electricity to residents of the republic. Residents of Dagestan criticized the officials' report, citing ongoing power outages.

During a briefing on the energy situation in Dagestan, the Russian flag was placed upside down on the table, republican media reported on December 18.

"But the presidium is filled with specialists who teach others how to live and how to love their homeland. The average consumer might think: oh well, so long as they do their job well. But even here, there's little to go around," the Novoye Delo publication stated.

"We at Chernovik also love to listen to officials, especially those who talk a lot about patriotism. Love for the homeland. Love for history. Love for the flag. The anthem. The country's symbols. All this needs to be known. Appreciated. And not just talked about," Chernovik noted in its December 18 publication.

Alaudinov explained the Orthodox cross on the Akhmat special forces flag.

Makhachkala resident Artur critically commented on the publication featuring the upside-down flag.

"It will be interesting to see if any authorities will react to this fact? It would be fine if it were some kind of regular event. But here, officials tried to mislead people by talking about the power supply situation," he told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Another Dagestan resident, Rustam, described the publication as "disgraceful." "This is a disgrace for officials. Not only were they unable to say anything about the energy collapse, but they also disgraced themselves in other ways," he told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.