Modern Russian Propaganda Street Art

May 14, 2023: pro-war “Z-patriotic” Russian street artists Sasha Montlevivh and Alexey Chizhov sprayed a triptych of Chechnya President Ramzan Kadyrov, Wagner chief Evgeny Prigozhin, and Vladimir Putin on the Kadyrov bridge in St.Petersburg, Russia. Referring to a classical Soviet triptych of Marx, Engels, and Lenin (below), the graffiti suggests KPP are the founders of the Russian “New Order.”

It stayed unnoticed for a week. After Russian media reported on it, it was gone on May 20.

It is unclear if the graffiti was painted over by anti-war activists or city beauticians.

One person’s glorifying art is another’s ugly propaganda.

P.S. This is a true story. I wrote it up as microfiction because it is too short for a full story but still worth noting.