In Kirov, "Joy" and Oleg the Prophet were stolen.

      Let us recall that in early August six figurines of characters from Viktor Vasnetsov's paintings appeared on the "Gates of the Russian North" tourist route. They were placed on the Grin Embankment, in the Artists' Square, in the 60th Anniversary of the USSR Square, at Spasskaya Square and near the Vasnetsov Brothers Museum. Each of them is dedicated to one of the artist's well-known works — "The Flying Carpet," "Alyonushka," "Sirin and Alkonost. The Song of Joy and Sorrow," "The Snow Maiden," "Oleg at the Horse's Bones," and "Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible."

      This week the Alkonost — a character from the painting "Sirin and Alkonost. The Song of Joy and Sorrow" — disappeared from Artists' Square. This mythical bird, in Slavic mythology, embodies joy. The Sirin remaining in the square represents sorrow.

      Thieves also visited the embankment — the figurine of Oleg the Prophet disappeared from there. As Alexey Cheptsov, head of the Kirov Region Tourism Development Center, told a radio station, the thieves came prepared, with the necessary tools to saw off the art object.