US Edition 
Russia and Ukraine squabble over fairytale characters
Russia and Ukraine have become embroiled in a bizarre spat over their respective folklore with both countries claiming the same popular fairytale characters as their own.
The dispute erupted after a Russian organisation keen to cash in on the link between certain places and popular fairytale characters published "a fairytale map of Russia" with a view to marketing themed tours to the places it listed.
The map identified 17 Russian towns which its authors described as the homes of more than twenty fairytale characters, all of whom are well known and loved by Russian speakers across the former Soviet Union.
However, a Ukrainian tour agency which earlier this year published its own fairytale map of Ukraine for the same reasons said that at least three of the "Russian" fairytale characters were in fact Ukrainian and accused the Russians of stealing part of Ukraine's heritage.
"Unfortunately, folkloric heritage is not regulated by international norms or by intellectual property rights," Marina Primenko, the creator of the Ukrainian map, said.
"Therefore we can only express our regret that our Russian colleagues consider Ukrainian fairytale heroes to be their own. We will not be deleting them from our own map." The disputed characters include a medieval knight called Ilya Muromets known for his superhuman strength, 'Speckled Hen,' a creature which miraculously lays golden eggs, and Kolobok, a cheerful talking cake who flees animals eager to eat him.
The creator of the Russian map dismissed the Ukrainian complaints as "stupidity." "All three heroes firmly belong on our fairytale map and are not going anywhere," said Alexei Kozlovsky of the Association of Russian Communities.
"There are serious reasons why each one of them is there. Regional experts and mythology researchers worked on our map." The dispute is the latest and the least serious in a string of disagreements between the two neighbours. In the past, the two former Soviet republics have squabbled over the price of gas, the demarcation of their borders, and over Russia's right to keep its Black Sea fleet in Crimea.