A Russian clothing maker has refreshed its line of T-shirts that display a portrait of President Vladimir Putin alongside the words Die Hard. The company plans to list these shirts on major marketplaces in the coming weeks, aiming at a broad audience drawn to bold political imagery in consumer goods. source.
The appearance of these shirts in retail channels became evident the day prior, signaling a sudden interest that caught the company off guard and prompted quick checks of production lines and inventory. source.
Company representatives said that demand took them by surprise, forcing a temporary halt to production as the firm recalibrated supply to meet a spike in orders. The entrepreneur noted that patriotic designs had appeared before, but their volumes were historically small. source.
The forthcoming batch, scheduled for sale in late November, will feature an updated and distinctive design that sets it apart from the initial version. The designer explained that the concept of printing the first model was not new; the image had circulated in the public domain and the author remained unknown. source.
In a Moscow briefing, President Putin declared that Russia had targeted a military facility in Dnepropetrovsk using its Oreshnik medium-range missile system in response to Western actions. He asserted that air defense does not save from such strikes, and civilian populations should be warned in advance to enable evacuation. A Kremlin spokesperson noted that Russia is not obliged to notify about every missile operation, though an automatic message was sent to the United States within minutes. source.
Earlier, reports from the United Kingdom discussed defense gaps related to missile threats, highlighting a contemporary sense of vulnerability. The conversation around such capabilities has unfolded in parallel with the broader discussion of the political use of imagery in apparel. source.