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Siberians Use 300 Cars to Recreate Huge Portrait of Putin

With less than a week to go before Russia’s presidential elections, a group of drivers in Siberia participated in a mass flashmob with their cars to recreate a portrait of the leading candidate.

Around 300 cars lined up in the city of Khabarovsk to depict the right side of President Vladimir Putin’s face, one of its organizers told the state-run RIA Novosti news agency Monday. Drone footage published on social media captured the spectacle of vehicles flashing headlights and emergency brake lights in a moving image of the national leader.

“I’ll say right away that our action has nothing to do with the elections,” organizer Vyacheslav Shempelev told RIA Novosti. 

“We have long wanted to make an intricate composition, namely a portrait. And when we were choosing, we decided it would be the president,” Shempelev was cited as saying. 

“The only tools used in the flash mob were measuring tape and eyes,” he said. 

Voters go to the polls this Sunday, with Putin expected to win a fourth term in office.

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