Meet Darth Vader ... in Ukraine
The Ukranian Sith Lord enjoys mundane pursuits — local politics, pets and embroidery
Darth Vader was bent on galactic domination, but his Ukrainian namesake enjoys more mundane pursuits — local politics, walking the family dog and embroidery.
While audiences around the world have had to wait 10 years for the latest film in the Star Wars franchise — due on Thursday — residents of the Ukrainian port city Odessa have become used to regular sightings of Lord Vader in his masked helmet and floorlength black cape.
The Ukrainian citizen, who officially changed his name to Darth Mykolaiovych Vader, ran in October for the post of mayor, backed by a phalanx of supporters dressed as Star Wars storm troopers.
The Sith Lord beat out more traditional candidates to place 15th out of 42 candidates in the mayoral race, while an online petition to appoint him prime minister later gained more than 25,000 signatures.
His popularity is probably less a result of any significant support for the Dark Side among average Ukrainians than a sign of public frustration with the political status quo amid economic crisis and a violent separatist conflict.
Some Odessa residents, meanwhile, clearly prefer the evil Galactic Empire to their Communist past. In October, a local artist refashioned a monument to Soviet revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin into a statue of Darth Vader.
Asked about his plans for the future, Vader said he was taking things slowly, but had not abandoned hope of gaining a top government job.
“Considering the more than 25,000 signatures on the petition, [one plan is] to oust [Prime Minister Arseny] Yatseniuk and put me, Darth Vader, on the throne as prime minister,” he said.