A picture taken in Sofia on August 21, 2013, shows the figures of Soviet soldiers at the base of the Soviet Army monument, painted by an unknown artist in cheeky pink facelift to decry the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia on August 20-21, 1968. The massive bronze relief sculpture depicting nine Soviet army soldiers was flamboyantly painted pink overnight and adorned with captions “Prague ’68” and “Bulgaria apologises.” As part of the so-called Warsaw Pact, Bulgarian troops took part in the 1968 Soviet invasion of the former Czechoslovakia that crushed the Prague Spring reformist uprising in the country. AFP PHOTO / DIMITAR DILKOFF.The main Soviet army monument in Sofia has had a a cheeky pink makeover in an anonymous commemoration of the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia 45 years ago. The massive bronze relief sculpture depicting nine Soviet army soldiers was overnight Tuesday painted a flamboyant pink and adorned with the captions “Prague ’68” and “Bulgaria apologises.”
This is not the first time the monument has had a makeover: in 2011, unknown artists turned the soldiers into pop culture heroes — including Superman, Captain America and fast-food mascot Ronald McDonald — with buckets of paint. Part of the so-called Warsaw Pact, Bulgarian troops took part in the Soviet invasion of the former Czechoslovakia on August 20-21, 1968 that crushed the “Prague Spring” reformist uprising. Bulgaria was the last Warsaw Pact country to apologise for its role in 1990.
The Red Army monument in central Sofia has been a constant bone of contention between Russophiles and anti-communists in Bulgaria, who want it demolished.
Recent Comments