Cheburashka 2, Russia’s highest-grossing domestic film with $80 million in earnings, has become a cultural flashpoint. The sequel to the 1969 Soviet cartoon, featuring a cuddly monkey-like character and his crocodile friend, has drawn criticism from conservative figures who argue it undermines national pride amid the Ukraine war. Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov praised the original film’s $94 million box office haul, calling it proof of Russia’s cinematic resilience under sanctions. Yet detractors, including nationalist thinker Aleksandr Dugin, condemn Cheburashka as a symbol of “Soviet brainrot” and “Jewish influence,” citing the character’s alleged origins in Israeli imports. Dugin’s apocalyptic warnings—that the franchise could “curse” Russia—highlight tensions between nostalgia for Soviet-era innocence and demands for a “reborn empire” ethos.

The debate mirrors broader struggles over identity, with Leonid Shvartsman, Cheburashka’s Jewish creator, reflecting a generation that valued art’s quiet rebellion against state orthodoxy.