It’s like Putin is trying to freak everybody out on purpose. I’m sure you are familiar with the following famous image of the Spasskaya Tower of the Kremlin:

As the clock strikes 12 on the most important night of the year (the New Year’s eve), the people of Russia and the Russian-speaking immigrants all stare at this image.

But this year, the famous tower looks like this:

There is a whole variety of conspiracy theories explaining that scary sarcophagus. My theory is that Putin wanted people to concentrate on something even uglier than him during the festive season. And he is succeeding.

6 responses to “The Sarcophagus in the Red Square”

  1. el Avatar
    el

    What?! Do you mean I won’t see my favorite clock tomorrow? I think it will be shown / opened in the торжественный (festive?) fashion before 12:00 , right?

    I really feel like somebody is completely insane there. This clock is a symbol. May be not as important as the statue of liberty for Americans, but still.

    Do you watch Russian TV on the new Year? Ukrainian? American?

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    1. Clarissa Avatar

      The image of the click will be projected onto the sarcophagus on New Years night like onto a big movie screen. Virtual kuranty!

      We watch Russian TV on New Year’s night because Americans don’t celebrate and one of us doesn’t understand a word of Ukrainian. So Russian it is.

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  2. cliff arroyo Avatar

    I’d never heard of this tower before, but when I googled a little it seemed like the scaffolding was put up just recently…… they couldn’t wait a couple of weeks until after such an apparently iconic event? Russians have the weirdest sense of timing in the world…

    My bet is there’ll be a bunch of Crimean propoganda (stressing how happy the Crimeans are to have Russians stealing their busines and how nice life is without all the tourists coming in the summer – hey, what else do they have?).

    I wouldn’t be surprised if lots of Putinalia is beamed onto the sides as well.

    New Year’s Eve is big in Poland too but it’s more a purely party holiday than the big symbolic thing it seems to be for Russians. It’s also probably my least favorite holiday.

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    1. Clarissa Avatar

      Putinalia! This is the best. I’m even ready to forgive your contempt for THE MOST IMPORTANT HOLIDAY IN THE WORLD for Putinalia. 🙂

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  3. Tim Avatar

    Maybe Putin is preparing a Mausoleum for himself should his ascension to godhood fail, so he can lie next to his spiritual godfather Lenin?

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    1. Clarissa Avatar

      It’s great to see such a hopeful comment on the eve of a new year. 🙂 I’m afraid, though, that he won’t keel over for at least another decade.

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A conservative literary critic and college professor