A polar bear singing hip-hop verses about public services in the Arctic is the latest oddity to have been unearthed by Russian social media users this week.
The furry mascot’s endorsement of municipal programs in the town of Norilsk is introduced with a hip-hop verse that goes to address social and economic issues.
The polar bear, depicted on the Norilsk coat of arms, goes on to reinterpret famous Soviet and Russian songs to a Europop beat in a series of videos that praise the virtues of the local administration.
A high-pitched autotune voice pledges to clean the streets and manage finances as the mascot, who does not bear a name, dances against the backdrop of an animated city.
The videos languished in near obscurity on the municipal cinema’s YouTube page for two years before being discovered by a Navalny staffer in Krasnoyarsk.
Social media users have been split over the video, with one user calling it "the lowest pit of the lowest circle of hell," while another called it "fabulous."
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