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Society

Icons Of Ukraine: Street Art Marks World's Support For A People And A Cause

In the last 100 days, street art murals supporting Ukrainian resistance have appeared everywhere from Kyiv to Syria. Here's a look at the most moving and powerful murals.

A man takes a photo of a mural in support of Ukraine

Displaced Kharkiv artist Mariia Vashchenko painted a mural of a girl in traditional clothing Uzhhorod, Zakarpattia Region, Ukraine.

Andriy Darkovich

KYIV — "Art is our weapon. Culture is a form of resistance"

These words belong to Shirin Neshat, an Iranian political refugee, photo artist and film director living and working in exile in the United States.

Art forms the context and culture that decides how society will perceive certain historical events, and, as a result, which society will be the winner of the war. So, this statement brings us to the Ukrainian art of the last 100 days. This is the art of information resistance.

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Films, books and paintings based on the events after February 24 are just appearing in the authors’ minds. The CHESNO movement (from the Ukrainian word "honestly") decided to make a selection of street art about the war as part of the exhibition "Information Front: Boards, Murals, Graffiti." They want to preserve these cultural and artistic voices.


In Ukraine, large murals are the main form of traditional street art, as they will not be erased by housing and communal services the next day. This has not changed in the last 100 days.

Murals around Ukraine

"Holy Javelin" has become the most discussed mural. Designed by a Canadian journalist of Ukrainian origin, Christian Boris, the mural adorns Aviaconstructor Antonov Street in Kyiv.

The ancient tradition of painting icons has been modernized. Instead of swords or spears, the mural depicts the FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank missile system. However, its combination with a religious symbol — a halo — aroused the discontent of the Council of Churches. At their request, the halo was erased.

Another mural by Konstantin Kachanovskyin Rivne, a city in west Ukraine, has a similar theme. It depicts a Ukrainian woman with a weapon in her hands.

The ancient tradition of painting icons has been modernized.

And a mural artists Anton Kravchenko and Oleksandr Fastovets in Poltava, a city in central Ukraine, features soldiers, a dog and a kitten. In the center of the picture is a girl in national dress with a wreath on her head with loose ribbons. She holds the coat of arms of Ukraine. To her left are border guards, and to her right the infantry of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Next to her is an Azov fighter with a cat in his arms, and on the ground is the dog Patron, who helps rescuers clear mines in liberated territories.

And in the Obolon district of Kyiv, a mural by artist Oleksandr Korban reads: "Warrior sewing together the flag of Ukraine." It depicts the hands of the military sewing together a flag that symbolizes the country. The mural was created during the liberation of Irpin and Bucha.

A mural shows hands stitching the Ukrainian flag

Ukrainian artist Sasha Korban created this symbolic mural in Kyiv.

Sasha Korban

Street art around the world supporting Ukraine

Street art in Ukraine often takes places against the backdrop of air raids in shelling. But in the safer streets of cities around the world, murals have also appeared in the last 100 days.

"Faces of Heroes and Victims" can be seen on the wall of the Street Museum in Amsterdam. Street artist Magdalena Anopsi painted portraits of two Ukrainians who died in this war. Who are they?

Vitaliy Skakun, 26 years old, junior combat engineer. He sacrificed his life to blow up the bridge. He died on February 24, at the beginning of Russia's war against Ukraine. He died defending his country. And a girl, Polina, was killed on March 19 together with her parents on the streets of Kyiv. She was a 4th grade student.

Murals also honor living heroes. Zakhar Nechypor, a Ukrainian actor, became famous for a New York Times viral report about civilians who sought to defend their country and overcrowded military recruiting centers in the early days of the war. Now Zakhar's face as a collective image of courageous civilians adorns the town of Letterkenny in the north of Ireland.

The painter of that mural, Ciarán Dunlevy, said: “It is honoring their exceptional courage, strength, humanity and power. We want them to know that the Irish people stand with them in solidarity and love."

Symbols of resistance

In addition to the heroic fate of Ukrainians, artists pay great attention to the symbols of spirit and struggle.

"Rooster from Borodianka" is a symbol of the unbreakable spirit of Ukrainian people that adorns the city of St. Gallen in eastern Switzerland. The mural has an inscription in Ukrainian: "No to war." The ceramic clay rooster became famous all over the world after the Prime Minister of the UK Boris Johnson received the same roosters as a gift during his visit to Kyiv.

Artists pay great attention to the symbols of spirit and struggle.

"Ukrainian Resistance" is a digital remake of the work by Banksy, who donated 100,000 euros to the largest children’s hospital in Ukraine from the sale of one of his works.

Instead of the usual flower bouquet, previously depicted in Banksy's work, sunflowers appeared in the remake as a symbol of Ukrainian resistance. Even hackers from Anonymous shared this photo on their Twitter.

A mural reproducing work by Banksy in the context of the war in Ukraine

"Ukrainian Resistance" is a remake of the work by Banksy, with sunflowers replacing the bouquet from the original work.

Livy Bereg

Empathy for the Ukrainian people

"To Ukraine with Love" is a work that refers us to the title of the James Bond film From Russia with Love. The title symbolizes the change of feeling in the global community.

In Corie Mattie's work, Putin's disembodied head is being carried away from one of the streets of Los Angeles to Ukraine. The author added QR codes to her mural. The link leads to a website where you can donate or find information about the war in Ukraine.

One of the main themes for art objects in the world has become empathy for the tragedy of the Ukrainian people. So in Tbilisi, they created an object supporting Ukraine in the war.

Even more moving is the picture on the wall of a house bombed by Russian troops in Syria. "Solidarity of Syrians with Ukrainians" is how the artist Aziz Al-Asmar signed his work.


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FOCUS: Russia-Ukraine War

Bucha To Bakhmut, Mariupol To Maryinka: Our Brutal Introduction To Ukraine's 'Hero Cities'

The world has come to know Ukraine’s geography through decisive battles and unspeakable war crimes in places like Mariupol, Bucha and now Bakhmut. We zoom in on what these places mean for the war, in both strategic and symbolic terms.

Bucha To Bakhmut, Mariupol To Maryinka: Our Brutal Introduction To Ukraine's 'Hero Cities'

Ukrainian soldiers preparing a tank for combat on the Bakhmut front.

Before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Bakhmut, an eastern city of just over 70,000, was known across the region for its sparkling wine and salt mines – and around the world, it was barely known at all.

Through cruel coincidences of fate and geography, the names of places like Bakhmut have become iconic as they appear in newspaper headlines, day after day.

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Now, Bakhmut joins the annals of history alongside places like Iwo Jima, Gallipoli or Falluja that appeared on the map in pitched battles. Or like Aleppo — introduced to many around the world as the site of atrocities during the Syrian Civil War, though known to both history and food buffs for its UNESCO-recognized ancient souk and thousands of years of multicultural culinary wonders.

Over the past 15 months, the world has come to know Ukrainian geography, often in the most tragic circumstances. Just a few weeks after Russia's full-scale invasion in Feb. 2022, the Ukrainian government recognized 14 cities, including Kherson, Mariupol, Bucha and Irpin, as “Hero Cities” – a distinction dating back to World War II, when the Soviet Union recognized cities like Kyiv and Stalingrad (present-day Volgograd) for their residents’ bravery and determination in the face of the Nazi invasion.

After more than a year of full-scale war and as Ukraine's long-awaited counterattack nears, we look at some of the places that have become the site of crucial battles in the ongoing conflict, forever seared into posterity:

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