The Paris Grevin Museum has removed a wax figure of Vladimir Putin this week after visitors vandalised it to protest the invasion in Ukraine.
Museum Director Yves Delhommeau told France Bleu radio: “Today is it no longer possible to present a character like him [Putin]... for the first time in the museum’s history we are withdrawing a statue because of historical events currently underway.
"Given what has happened, we and our staff do not want to have to fix his hair and appearance every day."
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Even though the statue has been at the Museum for more than two decades, a spokesperson said it was unclear whether the wax figure would ever return.
It now begs the question of who will take the Russian President’s place? US President Joe Biden? Chinese President Xi Jinping? Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy?
Delhommeau has floated the idea of having one of these political leaders taking the empty slot of Putin.
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“Maybe President Zelenskyy will take his place... he has become a hero for having resisted and for not fleeing his country. He could perfectly well take his place among the great men of history and today," he said.
The vandalism comes as fighting intensifies in Ukraine, with Russian forces moving further into Kyiv while also landing in Kharkiv and Zhytomyr.
The number of Ukrainian refugees is growing by the hour; as of yesterday (March 2), there was an estimated 66,000 people trying to flee the country.
But aside from vandalising wax statues, many countries are defying the invasion by imposing sanctions against Russia with the hope it will isolate the country and cause an economic war.
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Political leaders are also hoping these sanctions will make the Kremlin rethink their military presence in Ukraine.
As these sanctions continue to increase, the Russian people are already beginning to feel the ramifications of these sanctions, as they’ve been cut off from international banks, social media platforms, and broad range of goods have ripped from shelves.
Putin, of course, hasn't taken too kindly to these economic sanctions and expressed on state television: “As you can see, not only do Western countries take unfriendly measures against our country in the economic dimension – I mean the illegal sanctions that everyone knows about very well – but also the top officials of leading NATO countries allow themselves to make aggressive statements with regards to our country.”
With Putin continuing to advance the invasion in Ukraine, we can expect more sanctions and (possibly more vandalism) that will cause Russia’s economy t suffer.
Featured Image Credit: AlamyTopics: News, Russia, Ukraine, Vladimir Putin, Politics