A bust of the Soviet dictator Stalin has been bathed in pink paint in the southern Russian city of Lipetsk.
The Interfax news agency says the statue was erected by the local Communist Party outside their party headquarters in Lipetsk ahead of the 70th anniversary marking the defeat of Nazi Germany, called the Great Patriotic War in Russia.
Speaking to the Interfax on May 8, local Communist Party official Sergei Tokarev called the act of vandalism a "political provocation."
According to Interfax, an unidentified woman was caught on video camera dousing the statue with pink paint early on May 8.
Lipetsk is also home to the Roshen candy factory owned by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
According to the company, Russian authorities seized several of the firm's assets on April 28.
