Muscovites were, on September 24, surprised to find adverts in the city streets suggesting that their council was corrupt, xenophobic and irresponsible. Carrying the council logo, the allegations seemed to be coming straight from the horse's mouth.

The posters only stayed on display for a couple of hours, but photos of the billboards appeared online a few days later. It was soon realised that the posters were a prank, put up illegally and swiftly removed by the local authorities.

The poster reads: "Tenders are supposed to be fair." Listed as sponsors are Moscow City Hall and Inteko. To an outsider it might seem quite innocent, but every Muscovite understands the hidden joke. Inteko, the capital's biggest development company, is widely believed to receive the most lucrative deals from Moscow City Hall.

Coincidentally, the owner of Inteko, billionaire Elena Baturina, is married to the head of the city council, Mayor Yuri Luzhkov.

"Driver, give way to expensive foreign cars with flashing lights! We are hurrying to work, not to steal!" The logo is that of the Moscow Traffic Police," which is reputed as one of the most corrupt organizations in Russia. 

"Smoke. Drink Give birth to freaks." Logos of Moscow City Hall and Jaguar energy drink. Jaguar is the most popular drink amongst youths in Moscow. It has an alcohol content of 9 percent.

"A Georgian is not a friend to a Russian," with the logo of state channel TV 1 and the Nashi youth movement. Both institutions are openly anti-Georgian.

"A Khokhol is no brother to a Russian," with TV 1 and Gazprom. Khokhol is derogatory slang for Ukrainian. The slogan refers to the recent natural gas conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the clear anti-Ukrainian position transmitted on Russian state TV.

Some bloggers took the posters seriously, but the majority of them got the joke and applauded the artist behind it for his daring. They thought that he or she was a political activist, but they couldn't agree from which side.

One of our Observers in Russia tells us that he knows who was behind the prank but that he wishes to remain strictly anonymous. A non-political young man who was simply fed-up with certain aspects of organisation in the capital, he pulled off the stunt with the help of a few friends, and for less than 100 euros in total.