Russian authorities in Moscow Oblast had to remove a Z-soldier mural because outraged residents found its connection to a Ukrainian fighter.
The incident occurred just before celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of Victory Day on 9 May, when residents of the Russian city of Dzerzhinsky spotted the newly painted graffiti of a soldier without identifying insignia on a residential building. The backlash was immediate, with locals flooding the city administration with complaints, according to propaganda news agency Regnum.
The controversial image appears to have been generated using artificial intelligence and was approved by the city administration before painting began.
Ironically, according to Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR), the same stock photo from Depositphotos has been used in their own recruitment materials.
Russian authorities in Moscow Oblast had to remove a Z-soldier mural because outraged residents found its connection to a Ukrainian fighter.
— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) May 14, 2025
The confusion arose because the Russian artist used an AI-generated stock image for this government project, while a similar image was… pic.twitter.com/UxdA1qgPpQ
“Residents began writing that this was allegedly a Ukrainian soldier,” explained Pavel Shcheklein, the artist whose company won the tender for the project. “We then painted a Russian flag on his uniform, but the outrage didn’t stop.”
Despite attempts to modify the mural by adding both a Russian flag and the letter Z, city officials ultimately decided to completely remove the artwork.
Despite the controversy, the artist’s firm has retained the contract and will continue with other planned murals. However, Shcheklein told Regnum, that his company lost approximately 600,000 rubles ($7000) due to the incident.
