Issue and Opposition: The KGB earned its notoriety as the Soviet Union’s secret service agency during the Cold War because of its oppressive techniques against the dissenters. Although the agency was dismantled soon after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, people’s hatred toward KGB persists. Members of an underground, oppositionist art group called Voina (meaning “war” in Russian), which stages street performances to ridicule and provoke the Russian government, planned and executed this dilemma action to show their hatred for KGB and Russian government machinery that suppress democratic voices through coercion.
Dilemma Action: The protesters drew a penis right across from the infamous FSB (formerly KGB) headquarters in St. Petersburg as a symbol of defiance to the Russian government. The protesters drew the image of the penis on the Liteiny bascule bridge so that whenever the bridge was drawn, the image pointed upwards in the direction of the KGB building.
Outcome: Russian police reacted by arresting the activists and detaining them for the next few days. The action did attract a lot of media and public attention and was shared on social media by hundreds of subscribers. Some police officers found the action funny and shared its image with their friends and family.