Russian prosecutors are reportedly investigating a circus troupe’s Christmas performance which starred monkeys and goats sporting Nazi paraphernalia.

The show included Soviet soldiers walking a monkey dressed in a Nazi uniform on a lead, as well as two goats wrapped in Nazi flags, according to footage circulated on social media.

AFP reports that the performance was held on 8 January and commissioned by a local Russian Orthodox church in Izhevsk, a city in the country’s central Udmurtia region.

The Russian Orthodox Church celebrates Christmas in January in line with the Julian calendar.

The show sought to celebrate the defeat of Nazi troops near Moscow in 1942 and did not break Russian law, the diocese told BBC News.

A spokesperson for the circus, meanwhile, said that images had been “taken out of context.”

"There is nothing unusual about such ironic or grotesque characters being used in circus performances," she said. 

Vladimir Putin signed a new law last year allowing the public display of Nazi symbols when done so for educational purposes and to promote “a negative attitude” towards the ideology.

Both the circus and local church were approached for comment.