Puppets (Kukly), a weekly TV puppet show written for most of its run mainly by Viktor Shenderovich, is one of the most prominent examples of post-Soviet political satire. The present article examines various aspects of the program: the authors' satirical intentions, its characteristic comic devices, its parallels with traditional art, and official reactions to the show. The central question addressed in this article concerns the self-contradictory nature of satire, as it relates to the incompatibility between the author's serious attitudes (which are hostile and moralizing) and the humorous forms of expression (which are friendly in both origin and function).