The Short, Colorful Life Of Belgrade's Putin Mural
- By RFE/RL
Activists in Serbia completely painted over a mural celebrating Russia's president in early December. Here are the different phases of painting, vandalism, and repainting that the image went through since its appearance in March.
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This mural appeared on a street corner in central Belgrade shortly after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on February 24. The image depicts Russian President Vladimir Putin amid the colors of the Russian and Serbian flags, alongside the Serbian word "brother." This is how the mural looked on March 5.
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One day later, on March 6, the mural had been defaced with red spray paint.
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Later on the same day, the image was further vandalized.
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On March 12, it had been restored.
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Then, on April 29, Putin's portrait had been defaced again. The first letter of the Serbian word "brother" had also been painted over, leaving the word "rat," meaning "war" in Serbian.
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On May 7, the word "brother" was partly restored and sunglasses added to the "bloody" portrait of Putin.
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On June 2, a pro-war "Z" symbol appeared, and the word was again changed to "war."
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The portrait was restored, then further vandalized, on June 20, and the word "brother" was repainted in vivid yellow letters.
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On August 14, Putin's face was covered up with red paint, and the message "No to war!" appeared above the words of a different activist who had written "Glory to Russia!"
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By September 2, Putin's portrait had been redone, apparently by a less-skillled artist than the original painter.
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On October 5, an anti-war message again appeared, along with vulgar insults.
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On December 6, the mural had been almost completely painted over in the white-blue-white color combination that has been adopted as a symbol of opposition to the Russian invasion.
