A British village names Putin “Bellend of the Year” and unveils a statue with a penis head

[ad_1]

Get our free Morning Headlines email to get news from our correspondents around the world

Vladimir Putin has been hailed as “General Belend” by a group of English villagers – who celebrated his award by erecting a golden phallus statue of the Russian president.

The doll, which was held in protest against Moscow’s nine-month invasion of Ukraine, appeared Thursday morning next to a street sign in the Worcestershire village centre.

Eggs were presented to villagers and passers-by so that they could be thrown into the figure of the Russian president.

The protest organizer, who wished to remain anonymous, told the PA news agency: “I needed to give someone the Bellend of the Year award, and I thought there was one person who was a world-class bell this year – Vladimir put him in.

“You could just throw eggs at the statue, which people did quite willingly and happily.

(PA)

“It was very well received. I thought he was my boss for a moment,” said one.

The curator said they plan to create and sell miniatures of the statue to raise money for a charity that supports Ukrainian refugees.

“Over the course of the year, I have seen the devastation in Ukraine and the many lives uprooted as a result of the war,” they said.

So I thought, ‘I really want to help and I want to do my part and I want to try and raise some money to help these individuals.

The organizer said they wanted anonymity to maintain “mystery” about the statue, with an additional explanation of how it is in the village just outside Birmingham to be revealed in the coming days.

Describing how the artwork was made, they said: “I don’t know what the material was but I gave it to artists and they cut it over a period of two or three weeks.

Then we painted it and made a rule, which was obviously marked Bellend of the Year just to make sure there was absolutely no way to deny what it really was.

“The message is very simple – it’s exactly what it says on the box.”

Just last month, a group of Czech activists put up for auction a nude effigy of Putin perched atop an ornate golden toilet, which they planned to use the proceeds from the sale to buy and send a combat drone to Ukrainian forces.

The proceeds from the sale will be used to purchase a drone for the Ukrainian forces

(Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved)

In a parody of a scepter-wielding monarch, the Russian leader is seen wielding a lubricated toilet brush and a small washing machine squirting what appears to be fake blood. The starting price has been set at €10,000 (£8,600). The auction will close on December 20th.

Earlier on Thursday, Moscow said it had no plans for a ceasefire in Ukraine over the festive period.

In response to a question about the possibility of a ceasefire in the new year, Ukrainian Brigadier General Oleksiy Gromov said in a press briefing: “There will be a complete ceasefire only when there is not a single occupier left on our land.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also said on Wednesday that there will be no “Christmas ceasefire” in Ukraine.

Additional coverage by the Press Association.

[ad_2]