It seems the superheroes of America have made their way to Russia, but not in the way anyone expected.
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If you’ve been by a Soviet monument in Bulgaria lately, you might have noticed that the presence of some iconic superheroes. Unfortunately, Russia didn’t plan it that way, and they’re a bit upset that pranksters keep painting their monuments in the guise of America superheroes (via Earthly Mission).
Russian military monuments now contain DC and Marvel icons like Superman, Wolverine, Captain America, Robin, Joker, and Wonder Woman, but the pranksters took things one step further in a few select cases. If Russia was angry about Captain America and Joker taking those spots, they’ll be really mad to see Ronald McDonald holding the American flag and Santa Clause scouting the way for him.
There are a few differences of course. Seeing Captain America holding a gun isn’t shocking really, as he did so back during his early days anyway, but seeing Superman wield a pistol and Santa Claus holding a heavy duty machine gun does require a second look.
The original report from the Moscow Times reveals that “Russia is demanding that Bulgaria try harder to prevent vandalism of Soviet monuments, after yet another monument to Soviet troops in Sofia was spray-painted, ITAR-Tass reported.”
The Russian Embassy in Bulgaria has also demanded that the country cleans up the monument (located in the Sofia Lozenets district) and identifies those responsible for the vandalism. They want them punished but also want “exhaustive measures” taken to prevent more of these repaints.
While it didn’t include superheroes, the painters struck another monument as well, featuring a variety of colorful paint applications. Moscow isn’t too pleased, and it is worth noting that the latest example took place on the eve of the Bulgarian Socialist Party’s 123rd-anniversary celebration.
You can see the repainted statue in the image above.
While Moscow isn’t happy with these latest demonstrations, odds are this isn’t the last we’ll see of them.
