Прощання зелених черевичків
Farewell of little green shoes
A collage made of two overlaid images. The landscape is a film photo I took in February 2012 in Balaklava Bay, Crimea. The footwear is rubber slippers issued to Russian soldiers. I found the image on a Russian military store website. In this work, I attempt to deconstruct a linguistic cliche — "little green men" — that arose during the occupation of Crimea by Russia in 2014.
"Little green men" are masked soldiers of the Russian army who appeared in unmarked green uniforms carrying Russian-made weapons. Although Russia initially denied these were their military forces, Putin later publicly confirmed that "little green men" were Russian servicemen.
In Ukrainian, the "little green men" expression is pronounced as "zeleni cholovichky" which sounds similar to "zeleni cherevychky" — "little green shoes" in English.
Made of rubber, slippers may be the only item of Russian military equipment and uniform that would keep afloat even after their owner drowned. Ironically, these slippers are equally unmarked as the uniforms of Russian Special Operations Forces operatives that occupied Crimea in 2014.
March, 2023
