Photo: Maarten / Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

A bridge over Kola Bay in Murmansk, deemed by the authorities to carry strategic importance to Russian national security, was partly guarded by a mannequin for a period of at least five months, according to an investigation by local prosecutors.

A local security company was contracted to guard the bridge. According to the terms of that agreement, the company was supposed to operate four guard posts. The security company only used three guards, however, placing a mannequin in the fourth guard post.