Grenades, guns, and Vladimir Putin t-shirts: you’ll find all of these at Russia’s new Patriot Park, which opened last week. The theme park, located in Kubinka (an hour outside of Moscow), is being dubbed a “military Disneyland.” At the park, visitors can explore cutting-edge military tanks and eat army-rationed lunches.
The park, whilst possessing a large entertainment factor, aims to generate national pride around the military. The Guardian reported that the theme park is an integral aspect of Russia’s growing patriotism and militarism – Putin said that it is “an important element in our system of military-patriotic work with young people.”
Putin wants you to check out his new Patriot Park, Russia’s ‘military Disneyland’ http://t.co/IjO2W0ILnw
— AJ+ (@ajplus) June 18, 2015
The grand opening of the park featured a performance by a military choir and orchestra and was attended by international and Russian officials. In addition to the opening ceremony’s celebratory nature, Putin made a pretty serious announcement: he is adding 40 new missiles to Russia’s nuclear arsenal.
Alexander Zaldostanov, also known as the Surgeon and leader of the pro-Putin biker group the Night Wolves, attended the park on its opening day. He, too, spoke about the necessity of generating excitement around the military: “In Soviet times the army was a distant, faraway thing, but now we all feel closer to the army. The army is being romanticized and I see that as a good thing.”
#Russia‘s #military #Disneyland: what is Patriot park really about? http://t.co/Sbg7cxi6Db pic.twitter.com/IpTYkv5P3W
— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) June 17, 2015
The park will be completed by 2017, at which point it will be able to accommodate tens of thousands of visitors daily. By then, it will also be replete with hotels and historical battle reenactments. At a projected cost of 20 billion roubles (£236m), the park won’t come cheap to the defence ministry.
[via the Guardian]
Fridge magnets on sale at Russia’s new Patriot Park include Putin, Stalin, Dzerzhinsky, Beria pic.twitter.com/CRgxgcLDE4
— Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) June 16, 2015
Patriot Park: Russia’s military Disneyland is fun for the whole warmongering family. http://t.co/CayTpGtVW5 pic.twitter.com/vQG3011OZT
— Mashable (@mashable) June 19, 2015
