A male PE teacher's decision to dress up as Snegurochka (Snow Maiden), a character associated with New Year celebrations, triggered a denunciation against a school in Primorsky Krai, as reported by Newsbox24 on December 27.
Photographs and videos from a New Year celebration at a Nakhodka school, featuring the PE teacher in Snegurochka attire, sparked outrage among local residents, leading them to lodge a complaint with Governor Oleg Kozhemyako.
'What traditional values are we even talking about here?' wrote the informant, asserting that 'the children were shocked by what they saw.'
Subsequently, the school removed all images and videos from the celebration. The school's representatives explained on their VK page that the PE teacher wasn't portraying Snegurochka herself but rather a character from the popular Russian animated series 'Nu, pogodi!' In the Christmas episode, one of the main characters, the Wolf, dressed up as Snegurochka, providing a humorous twist to his usual exaggeratedly masculine image. The page administrators emphasized that the children thoroughly enjoyed the performance.
In response to the Nakhodka incident, Marina Popova, a journalist for 'Far East Vedomosti,' jokingly suggested the creation of a Ministry of Public Apologies in Russia. She also pointed out the common practice of female teachers portraying Ded Moroz, the Russian counterpart of Santa Claus, at school and kindergarten parties.
Denunciations related to costume parties and performances have become prevalent since the enactment of the law prohibiting 'LGBT propaganda' in November 2022. Recently, pro-government activists filed numerous complaints regarding a 'naked party' hosted by blogger Anastasia Ivleyeva. Many attendees recorded apology videos. A similar reaction followed a corporate event for employees of a state TV channel in Volgograd a few days later, where participants wore costumes of Hollywood film characters. Conservative bloggers and media interpreted the event as BDSM propaganda, which led to the dismissal of three employees.
