UK villagers unveil penis-headed statue of Putin, declare him 'Bellend of the Year'

A group of English villagers has declared Russian president Vladimir Putin "Bellend of the Year."

The occasion was marked by the unveiling of a golden, penis-headed statue of Putin at the centre of the Worcestershire village in the UK on Thursday.

The statue was installed in protest against Putin's war in Ukraine, which has claimed thousands of lives. The villagers also gave eggs to passers-by in case they wanted to hit Putin's statue with them.

An anonymous protestor told the PA news agency: "I needed to award somebody with the Bellend of the Year award, and I thought there was one person who has universally been a bellend this year – and that's Vladimir Putin."

"You could just throw eggs at the statue, which people did so willingly and quite happily. It's been very well received. One person said, 'I thought it was my boss for a second'."

The organisers of the protest also plan to sell miniatures of the statue to raise money for a charity supporting Ukrainian refugees. A report in The Independent claimed that the organisers wished to remain anonymous to keep the "mystique" around the statue.

It has been nine months since Russia launched a war against Ukraine. According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, up to 13,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since the start of the war. The figures have not been confirmed by the Ukrainian military yet.

Meanwhile, the UK's defence chief, Ben Wallace, has said that over 100,000 Russian soldiers have either "died, been injured, or have deserted." He revealed the figures while giving an update to London's House of Commons. The estimate matched the figures provided by senior US general Mark Milley.

Putin's war in Ukraine is showing no sign of coming to an end anytime soon. Russia has also said no to the "Christmas ceasefire."

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy wants Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine by Christmas to end the conflict, but Moscow has rejected the proposal. It said that Ukraine must accept the loss of territory to Russia before any talks can be held.