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This paper deals with the Russian translation of Minoes. The point of departure is the observation that Schmidt’s fairytale in a recent opinion piece in a Flemish newspaper has been described as an antidote against the mass production pink princesses pop culture that shapes the female image of young girls. This leads to the central research question: to what extent is the feminist interpretation of Minoes privileged by the translation strategies used to render it into Russian? An attempt to answer this question is undertaken in two phases. First, in a literary-historical overview, a light is shed on the circumstances which made it first difficult and then possible for Minoes to become a Russian book. In this context, both the Soviet and the post-Soviet demands on children’s literature are dealt with. Thereupon, the analysis turns towards the most recent version of the Russian translation Murli. Attention is paid to its directness, peritexts, illustrations, macrostructural and microtextual shifts. The observed shifts, especially the illustrations by Sokolov, show a strongly patronized Murli with a diva-attitude. It is concluded that the adopted translation strategy makes the text more suitable for a Russian-style gender socialization. Nevertheless, it is argued that also in its Russian Barbie-like disguise, Minoes can play a feminist role.