These college kids stripped and painted their bodies to celebrate Russian patriotism

The Kalashnikov Izhevsk State Technical University held a body-art competition in honor of the 70th anniversary of the USSR’s victory in World War II. Participants were asked to draw on their own bodies “images of the forces active during the Great Patriotic War, from the cavalry to the pilots to the rocket artillery.” The contest took place on March 23, 2015.

A photo report about the event appeared on the website Volunteer Corps of the 70th Anniversary of Victory, which is the creation of Rosmolodezh, Russia’s federal agency for youth affairs. When the story started attracting attention (and derision) online, the report was deleted, though a copy still remains available on Google Cache.

These works of art have provoked mixed reactions online. For instance, among comments that don’t resort to obscenities, one finds responses like, “I’m lost… which military forces are these?” and “this is definitely overkill” and “I’m speechless—there simply are no words.”

My Udmurtia