Russian anti-Putin satirists have car vandalised with giant wooden penis

Arseny Bobrovsky and Katya Romanovskaya have become prominent opposition targets after they were unveiled as the duo behind spoof Twitter account @ KermlinRussia

Russian anti-government satirist Arseny Bobrovsky posted this image of his elaborately-vandalised car to Facebook with the message: 'Finally, the day has come when my work has been noticed and appreciated' (Facebook)

The state of political discourse in Russia could hardly be considered healthy – but it has reached an alarming new low after the car of an anti-government dissident was vandalised with a giant wooden phallus.

Satirists Arseny Bobrovsky and Katya Romanovskaya, who have achieved celebrity status in Russia after being revealed as the duo behind the hugely popular @KermlinRussia spoof Twitter account, woke up on Monday last week to find the 200lb penis chained to their BMW.

Posting on their joint Facebook account, the car’s owner, Bobrovsky, wrote: “Finally, the day has come when my work has been noticed and appreciated.”

In a country where transparent and outspoken anti-governmental figures struggle to stay so for long, the pair set up their satirical account anonymously in 2010 as a response to then-President Dmitry Medvedev’s announcement of the official feed @KremlinRussia.

Their number of followers has surged to more than 700,000 – and such is their popularity, that it is claimed they triggered Mr Medvedev to set up his own @MedvedevRussia account to avoid confusion.

Bobrovsky and Romanovskaya revealed themselves as the so-called “Kermlins” last year in a story in Russia’s GQ magazine, and the pair recently featured prominently in a New Republic cover story on Russian democracy.

Arseny Bobrovsky and Katya Romanovskaya were glamourously unveiled as the duo behind @KermlinRussia in a GQ spread last year

According to that publication, the giant penis is likely the work of Nashi, described as a pro-government youth group “paid and brainwashed to be the Kremlin’s blunt instrument of revenge”.

New Republic reported that aside from the practical difficulty of removing the phallus – with police “laughing too hard to get their act together” – there is a sinister side to the incident. The satirists had been away at a conference in France and only returned with their car late on the night the prank was carried out – making it highly likely their house was being watched.

Though it is impossible to trace the incident back to any direct government involvement, such a prominent attack on outspoken government opponents could well prove a talking point ahead of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, which open tomorrow.