Russian alcohol crackdown topples monument to vodka

A Russian monument to a bottle of vodka has been toppled over fears that it could be seen as an illegal advert for the country's favorite tipple.
The three-meter metal sculpture had become a local landmark in the Urals town of Glazov, 1,000 km (600 miles) east of Moscow. But residents woke up one morning last week to discover it had disappeared, leaving only an empty plinth.
The bottle's fall reflects a new, sober spirit of the age in Russia under President Vladimir Putin, a judo blackbelt who rides, flies and dives for the TV cameras but is rarely seen raising a glass - unless to toast a billion-dollar oil deal.
A Russian monument to a bottle of vodka has been toppled over fears that it could be seen as an illegal advert for the country's favorite tipple.
The three-meter metal sculpture had become a local landmark in the Urals town of Glazov, 1,000 km (600 miles) east of Moscow. But residents woke up one morning last week to discover it had disappeared, leaving only an empty plinth.
The bottle's fall reflects a new, sober spirit of the age in Russia under President Vladimir Putin, a judo blackbelt who rides, flies and dives for the TV cameras but is rarely seen raising a glass - unless to toast a billion-dollar oil deal.
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Date: 2013-02-14 08:07 pm (UTC)