According to a report on Wednesday, Russian police are investigating a bizarre circus performance with a monkey in a Nazi costume and goats with swastikas.
The animals were caught on camera while parading during the state circus of Udmurtia in Izhevsk, with handlers dressed in Soviet uniforms last week.
Wild footage shows goats in red Swastika hoods wearing it next to a monkey wearing a formal black Nazi uniform.
The actions – seen by children and commissioned by the Russian Orthodox Church – may violate a Russian law banning the display of Nazi symbols, the store reports.
Local police and prosecutors are investigating whether the show glorifies Adolf Hitler or Nazi culture.
But the church said artists were merely using animal actors to portray the historic victory over Hitler during World War II.
“The performance of trainers wearing Soviet military uniforms with animals wearing Nazi symbols is not just an image of victory over fascism,” a church representative told the outlet. ‘[It depicts] global condemnation of the ideals of Nazi Germany. ”
The circus added that no one involved in the act is actually bananas for The Third Reich.
‘Trainers in the form of Red Army soldiers [were] chasing trained animals wearing Nazi symbols, ”said the circus representative.
Last year, Vladimir Putin signed an exemption to wear swastikas in performances if they portrayed Nazis negatively.