Banksy unveils new mural on a destroyed building in Ukraine
The anonymous street artist Banksy has posted to Instagram for the first time since December 2021, announcing a brand new mural that has been spray-painted onto a bombed-out building in Borodyanka, Ukraine.
Depicting a gymnast doing a handstand on a piece of rubble outside a house that has been destroyed by Russian bombardment, the piece has been celebrated by both local residents and global fans of the artist. Situated around 54 km northwest of Kyiv, the piece stands as a symbolic act of defiance against the ongoing Russian attacks on Ukraine, which has seen over 32,000 national casualties.
Borodyanka was one of the areas that Russian forces had occupied early in the conflict, with the true extent of their destruction being realised when the land was later reclaimed. Many are demanding that the Russian forces be charged with war crimes, leaving death, destruction, and buildings reduced to twisted metal and charred rubble.
The confirmed mural by Banksy joins other similar pieces of art that have popped up in surrounding areas, prompting many to believe that the artist has left a collection of street works. Some of these other pieces feature a child judo-flipping a man who looks an awful lot like the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, and another that depicts two children playing on tank traps as if it were a see-saw.
This isn’t the first time that Banksy has ventured into dangerous war zones either, with the artist heading into the occupied West Bank in 2005, whilst in 2020 he created a mural at a migrant camp in northern France.
Take a look at Banksy’s latest work of art below.
