«It's Putin!» In Russia, a woman saw the elf Dobby in a cafe, mistook him for Putin and demanded the «insult» be removed
«This little face is very similar to Putin. And it's his birthday today!»

In Saratov, an elderly woman was outraged by a plaster head of Dobby the elf from the Harry Potter films, which she saw in the window of a local cafe. The incident occurred on October 7, the day of Vladimir Putin's 74th birthday.
In a video that appeared online, the woman called a cafe employee out to the street and declared that the character was too similar to the President of the Russian Federation:
«This little face is very similar to Putin. And it's his birthday today! You shouldn't laugh at a person at all. Every person should be treated with respect. <…> He's similar! You can see this perfectly well yourselves. The elections have passed. He has been re-elected to this position. He works. He fights!» — the woman fumed.
She threatened to call the police.
The cafe employee replied that if the visitor saw the Russian leader in the house-elf, then she was the one insulting him. However, the woman continued to insist on her point and advised her «not to provoke» and to relay the complaint to management.
As reported to ASTRA journalists at the cafe, the plaster head of Dobby had been used as a tip jar for over a year and fit perfectly into the establishment's concept. After the incident and threats to call law enforcement, the character was temporarily removed. When asked about Dobby's fate, the ASTRA interviewee reported that the Harry Potter character, as he loved to do in the books, disappeared:
«Dobby has temporarily moved to a permanent residence (PMR) elsewhere, so as not to traumatize people's psyche due to the autumn exacerbation <…> To prevent dementors from attacking».
The comparison of Putin to a house-elf is a long-standing meme: as early as 2003, a group of Russian lawyers intended to sue the film creators for Dobby's external resemblance to the President of the Russian Federation.
Comments
- Гитлера конечно, товарищ Сталин!
- а ви кого имели в виду, товарищ Берия???