<PERSON> Would Like to Wish You a Happy International Women’s Day · Global Voices
Source: YouTube
According to sources in the Kremlin, the order came from the very top: Russian governors were to celebrate International Women's Day “creatively.”
On March 7, the newspaper Kommersant reported that the Presidential Administration had instructed the leaders of Russia's regions and republics to take creative license with their March 8 celebrations, and by the time Kremlin spokesman <PERSON> had gotten around to denying the reports, a handful of governors had already taken their marching orders: though most regional leaders recorded relatively bland videos wishing their constituents happy International Women's Day or gave addresses at local celebrations, some governors had a little more fun with the rumored decree.
<PERSON>, the governor of Nizhny Novgorod Region, recorded a “mannequin challenge” video to express his gratitude towards women. Or something. Near the end of the video, <PERSON> says that a woman “is a mystery and a secret behind seven seals” but that men are “ready to solve you every day.” He concludes with: “Shine! Enchant! Inspire! Happy International Women's Day!”
<PERSON>, the governor of the Jewish Autonomous Republic, had a slightly more empowering message in his recorded congratulations, which featured falling flower petals and a prop guitar.
Дорогие женщины! Вы способны творить чудеса. Вы покоряете горные вершины и опускаетесь на морское дно. Вы сочиняете прекрасные симфонии и ставите мировые рекорды. Вы строите дома и разрушаете все преграды. Вы пишите гениальные романы и совершаете научные открытие. Вы для нас неиссякаемый источник вдохновения. 880
И только ради вас мы становимся отважными героями и неисправимыми романтиками…
Dear women! You can work miracles. You climb mountains and dive to the bottom of the sea. You compose beautiful symphonies and set world records. You build homes and break down all obstacles. You write brilliant novels and make scientific discoveries. You are an inexhaustible source of inspiration. It's only because of you that we become brave heroes and incorrigible romantics…
One official, however, was evidently not creative enough to comply with the presidential order: <PERSON>, the governor of Kirov, plagiarized a poem he claimed to have written about women from his region. <PERSON>'s final stanza read:
У нас и снег белее всех снегов
И я могу сказать вам без оглядки
В России все красивее всего
Но всех красивей женщины на Вятке!
We have the whitest of white snow
And I can tell you without reservation
In Russia, everything is the most beautiful
But all the more beautiful are the women of the <PERSON>! 880