Artists in Samara transform potholes into battleground scenes

Photographers in Samara have transferred the city's potholes in epic battle scenes, photographing them up close and populated by toy soldiers and Star Wars figurines. The stunt is an effort to draw attention to the city's terrible roads, which local officials have been slow to repair.

In early February, the Samara poet Alexander Gutin appealed to the mayor with an obscenity-laced poem demanding a response to the city's pothole problem. The answer, however, wasn't the one Gutkin hoped for: the mayor filed a complaint with local police.