March 05, 2026

Maslenitsa 2026: Russians Burned Their Heart


Maslenitsa 2026: Russians Burned Their Heart
Dancing in the darkness. Russian life image

During this year's annual Maslenitsa celebration effigy-burnings included, instead of a straw doll, several unusual objects, turning celebrations into a political performance. 

The tradition of burning an art-object instead of a straw "witch" was begun in 2001, with the famous Nikola-Lenivets landscape park in Kaluga Oblast. Each year, a symbolic image is chosen, the spectacular destruction of which becomes an act of collective therapy, from the installation “Project Russia” in 2007 to the “Vaccine Tower” in 2021.

Now, in the fourth year of Russia's War on Ukraine, a huge “Burning Heart” was created at Nikola-Lenivets, referring to the legend from Maxim Gorky's story, in which the story's hero burns his heart to light the way for people lost in the darkness. Considering that Nikolo-Lenivets has always been a hangout for liberal Muscovites, this performance can be seen as an act of mutual support in “dark” times. More explicit statements can be dangerous: for example, in 2022, a St. Petersburg resident who burned an effigy of a soldier was sentenced to almost four years in prison. 

Yet it is not only the opposition who use Maslenitsa to express their emotions. An effigy of Labubu was burned in Agramach Park in Lipetsk Oblast as part of a new tradition to destroy “hostile” Western toys during Maslenitsa. In 2023, Lipetskians set alight the monster Huggies, which had previously been at the center of a scandal as a toy that did not correspond to Russian “spiritual values.”

The most unexpected event this year was a performance staged in Irkutsk Oblast. On Maslenitsa eve, Russian pop star Yaroslav Dronov, known as Shaman, posted a video in which he licked the ice of Lake Baikal. The video was a provocative mix of eroticism and patriotism. In response, Irkutsk activists decided to burn an effigy of Dronov. This was explained as an action against the use of a “place sacred to indigenous peoples” for scandalous content. But, since Dronov is one of the most famous state-sponsored propagandists, the performance also seems to be a way of expressing dissatisfaction with Russian authorities.

More explicit demonstrations can only be done in exile.

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