Ukrainian residents of one of the country's most well-known cities have decided it's time for a new hero: Darth Vader.

In the post-Soviet state's infamous port city of Odessa, artist Alexander Milov decided to give a statue of Communist revolutionary and politician Vladimir Lenin, who served as the former USSR's Head of Government from 1917 to his death in 1924, a bit of an intergalactic makeover—by using a lot of plaster, black paint, titanium alloy accessories and with the permission of locals.

The statue is located near Odessa's Pressmash plant. According to the Russian news source TASS, the statue isn't all just fun and games: the erasure of Lenin's visage is a part of a new legal mandate that criminalizes Communist iconography in the post-Communist country.

В Дарта Вейдера скульптор превратил заводской памятник Владимиру Ленину, который подлежал демонтажу. Одесса!!! pic.twitter.com/IQXWj1kxK5

— Feldman (@EvgenyFeldman) October 22, 2015

This isn't the first time the Sith Lord has made a bid for Ukrainian leadership—or rather, the first time that Ukrainian citizenry has made jokes about the possibility (in a galaxy/reality far, far away). In 2014, a parody video surfaced featuring the ex-Jedi Knight strolling the streets of Kiev with a mission: to register to run in Ukraine's presidential election.

The jokes regarding Ukrainian leadership are understandable, especially in a time of devastating political unrest, which began in February 2014 with the country's dispute over Crimea with its former occupier, Russia, which lead to civil unrest. As of now, the conflict is ongoing.

Via: Comic Book Resources

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