November 07, 2023

Snow Penises Everywhere


Snow Penises Everywhere
Snow penis on a car in Yekaterinburg. Alec Luhn, Twitter.

Wintertime has arrived in Russia. Snow angels and snowmen are embellishing cities across the country. But in Yekaterinburg, residents are waking up to find their city decorated with giant snow sculptures of a decidedly more adult kind.

The first snow phallus appeared next to a school on Lenin Avenue. Municipal workers quickly demolished the sculpture, but it was too late to stop what Yekaterinburg Online has called "a surge in snow genitals." Students in the city have crafted penises on dormitories' courtyards, in the proximity of universities, parks, and even in front of Yekaterinburg's landmark Iset Tower and Opera and Ballet Theater. 

The sculptures have outraged city residents and authorities alike. The mayor said the snow penises were "a disgrace." The vice mayor called for law enforcement to get involved. Residents have circulated a petition to stop students from erecting more frozen phalli. Authorities have called for Yekaterinburgians to send pictures of the ice pieces to take them down as quickly as possible.

Not long after the scandal, and by complete coincidence, photos of a giant anus built in a Yekaterinburg mall in early October began recirculating across Russia. Doctors used the recreation to spread awareness of intestinal cancer.

 

 

You Might Also Like

Mature Maneuvers
  • November 10, 2022

Mature Maneuvers

A US Air Force plane has drawn ire for reportedly flying near a Russian base in a less-than-PG-rated path.
Oh Nice, Real Mature
  • December 03, 2020

Oh Nice, Real Mature

Russian airline Pobeda is under investigation for making our inner 14-year-olds giggle.
Odder News for Radical Dudes
  • September 17, 2020

Odder News for Radical Dudes

This week, we're abandoning all pretense of mature adulthood. We've got cool shotguns, exploding caves, and a teacher who just couldn't wait. Gosh, mom, get out of my room!
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
Survival Russian

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.
Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
Jews in Service to the Tsar

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.
93 Untranslatable Russian Words

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.
Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955