An episode of "Masha and the Bear", a cartoon series filmed by Russian studio Animaccord, has made it into the Guinness Book of World Records as the "Most Viewed Cartoon/Animated Movie Video on YouTube".
The video, titled "The Recipe for Disaster" and uploaded on the video sharing platform on 31 January 2012, has since been viewed over 3.4 billion times and amassed some 4.2 million "likes".
The animated series, which was launched in 2009, has been translated into 36 languages, reaching viewers in 100 countries.
Netflix has billed the production a "Russian phenomenon", with experts worldwide agreeing that the secret lies in the wide applicability of the narrative based on a Russian folktale story about a girl called Masha and eternal issues raised in the series.
READ MORE: British Media Ridiculed for Billing 'Masha and the Bear' Kremlin Soft Power
However, last year iconic British broadsheet newspaper The Times published an article calling the hit Russian kids’ series is a Kremlin "soft propaganda" tool, drawing parallels between the cartoon’s protagonist, Masha, and President Vladimir Putin.
