Yoshkar-Ola itself is a forgery, just google for its photos and name of that embankment street (no offence, just kidding, I even kinda like it, hope they didn't destroy some valuable authentic architecture to build it).
I've happened to visit the city on a few occasions since 2000, before and after. They didn't destroy anything valuable (I think) as it was pretty generic before, but that fake embankment is bizarrely out of place indeed. They even have a bootleg Neuschwanstein castle, which is kind of ironic, considering that the original is also closer to being a forgery than to some authentic medieval castle.
orbital-decay|11 months ago