Pro-war artist replaces ‘Living My Best Life’ inscription at Instagram-famous St. Petersburg bus stop with Putin quote and drone decals

Pro-war decals depicting “Geran” drones and a quote from Vladimir Putin, “Russia’s borders do not end anywhere,” have replaced the phrase “Living My Best Life” at the “Naberezhnaya Miklukho-Maklaya” bus stop in St. Petersburg. The St. Petersburg news outlet Bumaga reported the change.The bus stop had become a popular photo spot because of its inscription and view of the Gulf of Finland. Pro-war Z-artist Alexey Chizhov put up the new decals. He told Bumaga that his decal was timed to coincide with the “Founding Day of the Unmanned Systems Forces.”Alexey Chizhov is originally from St. Petersburg. He teaches in a department of the Institute of Arts Education at Herzen University, and his work has been exhibited at the Erarta gallery since 2011.In recent years, Chizhov has called himself a Z-artist. In 2023, his exhibition Novy Poryadok “New Order” was shown at the Wagner Group Center, run by the Russian mercenary group. A year later, he took part in the exhibition Vremya Z “Time Z” at the St. Petersburg House of Writers. In September 2026, Chizhov organized a campaign called “Zakladka,” in which he left bookmarks depicting writers with the letters Z, O, and V — the first symbols of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine — in St. Petersburg bookstores.At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at [email protected].To read Meduza’s exclusive content in English, please subscribe to our newsletter.