The US rock band Bloodhound Gang has been banned from performing in Russia, beaten up by Cossacks, and could find itself facing criminal charges after one of the group jokingly desecrated a Russian flag during a concert in Ukraine. 
 
 The incident suggests that as Russia-US relations plummet to a post-cold war low, unscripted moments like this, as well as the ongoing Edward Snowden saga, are increasingly shaping public perceptions on both sides. And the results can be unpredictable. 
 
 The scandal erupted after a video surfaced on YouTube of the band's bassist, Jared Hasselhoff, shouting "don't tell Putin" before shoving a Russian flag into his pants during a July 31 concert in Odessa, Ukraine. 
 
 He later apologized, suggesting the stunt was just part of his usual onstage schtick. Seconds after the act occurred, the band's leader, Jimmy Pop, told the audience that he "disagrees" with what Mr. Hasselhoff had just done because "unfortunately, Russia is better than America." 
 
 None of those contradictory signals appear to have made it through to the Russian media or blogosphere, where a storm of outrage erupted over the footage of the flag being grossly disrespected. 
 
 Bloodhound Gang was scheduled to perform Friday at the Kubana Festival, an annual event featuring about 50 international rock bands, held in Anapa, in the Kuban region of southern Russia. But as they arrived, local authorities were receiving instructions from Moscow to bar their performance. 
 
 "I've had a conversation with the Krasnodar region authorities. Bloodhound Gang is packing their suitcases," Russian Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky tweeted Friday. 
 
 "These idiots will not perform in Kuban," he said. 
 
 As Bloodhound Gang headed for Anapa airport to leave the next day, their minivan was reportedly pelted with eggs and rotten tomatoes by demonstrators who wielded signs with slogans like "Go home, Pigs" and "Get out of Russia." Inside the airport they were attacked by a gang of self-described Cossacks who later posted a YouTube video showing them apparently trying to strangle Hasselhoff with an American flag – which they later placed on the floor and stomped on. 
 
 The US ambassador to Moscow, Michael McFaul, issued a hand-wringing tweet Sunday, saying "I find the actions of Bloodhound Gang disgusting. I also condemn the act of violence against them." 
 
 But on Monday the Kremlin's Investigative Committee, the country's highest law enforcement body, stepped in to announce that it was launching a criminal investigation into the affair. 
 
 "Given the cynicism of the crime, expressing blatant disrespect to the Russian state [the Investigative Committee] is organizing a procedural probe into this matter," the statement said. It added that it might appeal to US legal authorities for assistance in the investigation. 
 
 Some Russian lawmakers have suggested that Hasselhoff's act was not simply a bit of spontaneous buffoonery, but might have been a "planned provocation" by some anti-Russian forces. 
 
 "The organizers of such arrivals should bear full responsibility for what happened and enraged Russian citizens," the State Duma's vice speaker Sergei Neverov told journalists Sunday. 
 
 "There are questions to those who invited them to Russia, to those who organized their concerts, offered venues, paid for their activities. Whose orders did the group fulfill? Those who paid them money and they did what they did. Like Madonna did in her time… These are all parts of one chain,” Mr. Neverov is quoted as saying. 
 
 Madonna infuriated Russian conservatives by publicly supporting the imprisoned Russian performance art group Pussy Riot during a visit to Moscow a year ago. She and Lady Gaga have become regular objects for abuse by right-wing Russian bloggers because of their outspoken support for gay rights, amid a growing crackdown on LGBT expression in Russia. 
 
 So it's no surprise that over the weekend Russian authorities also announced that they are investigating Madonna and Lady Gaga for allegedly violating the terms of their visas when each visited Russia to hold performances last year. 
 
 Amid the outpouring of righteous fury over Hasselhoff's act of flag-desecration, it's hard to find any Russian with an alternative opinion. 
 
 But Natalia Zimyanina, music critic for the opposition weekly Novaya Gazeta, says she worries that public anger will be channeled by the powerful Russian Orthodox Church and other conservative forces to install a new "iron curtain" to once again shut Russia off from Western cultural influences. 
 
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 "A national flag is to be respected, those are the rules of all humanity. And it's clear that this overgrown child [Hasselhoff] has caused a lot of damage with his stupid act," says Ms. Zimyanina. 
 
 "But I worry that our authorities haven't a clue about the nature of punk art. Provocations are an integral part of it, and as we saw in the Pussy Riot case, it has a way of exposing raw nerves in our society," Zimyanina says. "That can be painful, but it's the reaction of the authorities that we should be most worried about.... I fear this incident will become a pretext to close the Kubana Festival itself. It's a wonderful festival, we don't have any others like it in Russia anymore. Our authorities are scared of rock festivals, and always terrified that rock musicians might say or do something odd," she says. ||||| Story highlights A member of a U.S. rock band wipes the Russian flag between his legs 
 
 State-run media report Russia's Interior Ministry has opened a criminal case 
 
 The band left Russia Sunday, CNN has learned 
 
 Russia has opened a criminal case on an American band after one of its members stuffed the Russian flag into his pants, pulled it out his backside and whipped it between his legs, state-run news agency RIA Novosti reported Monday. 
 
 A musician told the audience "Don't tell Putin" and then tossed the flag into the audience at a concert Wednesday in Odessa, Ukraine. 
 
 RIA Novosti reported that Russia's Interior Ministry has issued a statement saying that a "specialized investigative unit" within the ministry "launched a criminal case regarding desecration of the national flag." 
 
 The band, Bloodhound Gang, left Russia Sunday, CNN learned. The musicians, known for making satirical and provocative songs, had a big hit in 1999 with "The Bad Touch." 
 
 The stunt was caught on video and posted to YouTube. It went viral in the Ukraine and Russia, and was flooded with angry Russian-language comments. Journalists later quoted the band as saying that all items that the band throws into the crowd must first pass through the bassist's pants. 
 
 The group was scheduled to appear at the Kubana rock festival this week, near the southern Russian Black Sea resort of Anapa, the news agency said, but the band was "deported." 
 
 The band told CNN that it left Russia and was not deported. They said they canceled their concert at the festival. 
 
 A member of the band's crew, who asked to not be named for security reasons, told CNN the band was attacked Saturday by Russian nationalists inside Anapa airport in Krasnodar Krai. 
 
 The band members were "beaten up" by a crowd of men who punched and kicked them, the crew member said, adding that some of the attackers had whips. 
 
 He said there were no serious injuries, and a Russian police guard was accompanying them as they waited to leave. 
 
 RIA Novosti reported Monday that Russia's Criminal Code states that "foreign nationals ... who commit a crime beyond the boundaries of the Russian Federation are subject to criminal liability in line with this code if their crime is aimed against the interests of the Russian Federation or a Russian national." 
 
 Desecration of the Russian flag can result in a one-year prison sentence, according to Russian criminal code, the news agency said. 
 
 Russian prosecutors in the Krasnodar Region have said they had begun an investigation into local music festivals, including Kubana. 
 
 Russian and Ukrainian lawmakers have also proposed permanently banning Bloodhound Gang members from entering the countries. 
 
 Earlier U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul called the incident "disgusting" in a Twitter message but said the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment protects flag desecration. 
 
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 Opinion: Make Olympics in Russia the gayest ever ||||| MOSCOW, August 5 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s Interior Ministry said Monday that it had opened a criminal case regarding an American rock musician’s apparent desecration of a Russian flag at a recent concert in Ukraine. 
 
 “After a check of actions … committed by a foreign musician at a rock concert in Odessa, Ukraine, a specialized investigative unit of Russia’s Interior Ministry in the Krasnodar Territory launched a criminal case regarding the desecration of the national flag,” the ministry said in a statement. 
 
 During a performance by the band, Bloodhound Gang, in the Ukrainian port of Odessa on July 31, bassist Jared Hasselhoff crammed a Russian flag down his pants and literally wiped his butt with it, a YouTube video shows. Russian authorities subsequently canceled the band’s scheduled appearance at the Kubana rock festival, near the southern Russian Black Sea resort of Anapa. The band reportedly left Russia soon afterward. 
 
 Russia’s Criminal Code states that “foreign nationals … who commit a crime beyond the boundaries of the Russian Federation are subject to criminal liability in line with this code if their crime is aimed against the interests of the Russian Federation or a Russian national.” 
 
 Desecration of the Russian flag is punishable by up to a year in prison, according to Article 329 of the Russian Criminal Code, in line with which the case was launched. 
 
 US Ambassador Michael McFaul called the incident “disgusting” in a Twitter message but said the US Constitution’s First Amendment protects flag desecrators from punishment in the United States. Flag desecration is, however, illegal in many other countries. 
 
 McFaul also condemned an act of violence against the band, apparently referring to a subsequent incident in Anapa Airport when band members were assaulted by local activists. 
 
 The YouTube video of the apparent flag desecration was flooded with angry Russian-language comments. Journalists later quoted the band as saying that all items that the band throws into the crowd must first pass through the bassist’s pants. 
 
 Ukraine’s Interior Ministry is also investigating Bloodhound Gang regarding a reported desecration of the Ukrainian flag at an earlier concert in Kiev. Criminal cases have been opened into desecration of both flags, a ministry spokesman said. 
 
 Russian prosecutors in the Krasnodar Territory said they had begun an investigation into local music festivals, including Kubana, where Bloodhound Gang was scheduled to perform. 
 
 Russian and Ukrainian lawmakers have also proposed permanently banning Bloodhound Gang members from entering their countries. 
 
 Updated at 21:32 to say Ukraine opened a criminal case into the alleged desecrations.
– Edward Snowden hasn't done great things for US-Russia relations. Now meet the Bloodhound Gang. The American rock band was performing in Ukraine last week when bassist Jared Hasselhoff grabbed a Russian flag thrown from the audience, shoved it down the front of his pants, and pulled it out again from the rear. "Don't tell Putin," he joked before the stunt. Result: The video blew up in Russia, and the government has launched a criminal investigation into desecrating the flag, reports Ria Novosti. The band cut short its tour and returned to the US over the weekend, with conflicting reports on whether it was deported or left voluntarily, reports CNN. Their van got pelted with eggs on the way to airport, and once inside, Russian nationalists roughed up band members and stomped on a US flag. (That video also is making the rounds.) Hasselhoff later apologized and said he wasn't making a serious political statement, reports the Christian Science Monitor. The band might not get a ton of sympathy from Americans, given band leader Jimmy Pop's statement on stage after the flag gag. "Russia is better than America, so I disapproved of that," he said.