Chechnya’s children should abandon Marvel superheroes and find inspiration from the region’s real-life historical and religious heroes instead, the Russian region’s leader Ramzan Kadyrov said on Monday.
Kadyrov’s statement came after he toured a newly built residential complex in the city of Kurchaloy southeast of the regional capital of Grozny.
Writing on his VKontakte social media page, Kadyrov said he “made minor adjustments” to the design of the complex’s indoor playground, whose walls are decorated with images of Iron Man, Thor and Captain America.
“Pictures of these made-up characters should be removed; these are fantasies,” Kadyrov said of the murals in a video accompanying his VKontakte post.
“We have plenty of real heroes in the history of our nation and religion, which can and should serve as an example. Otherwise, they [children] think that only these [Marvel heroes] exist.”
Kadyrov did not specify whose portraits ought to replace the superheroes or whether the playground’s English-language name, Like Land, would also be changed.
The Chechen strongman has sought to impose Islamic values in his majority Muslim region despite Russia’s status as a secular country. He is also accused by international rights groups of overseeing widespread human rights abuses.
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