After more than a year of not being present with the works that characterize him, the elusive urban artist Banksy confirmed the authorship of seven interventions carried out in Ukraine, all alluding to the war that the country wages with Russia.
The murals and graffiti began to be revealed about a week ago in various cities of the northwestern Ukraine, one of the regions of the country most affected by the conflict.
In Borodianka In particular, three murals appeared that Banksy claimed as his through his profile on Instagram. Especially in April of this year, Borodianka was heavily attacked by Russian military forces, with bombings and other actions directed against civilian targets that left the city devastated.
In one of the murals, the artist took advantage of the remains of a demolished building to place the figure of a young gymnast doing a handstand there among the ruins.
Banksy Mural in Borodianka, Ukraine (Ed Ram/Getty Images)
In another, one of the most eloquent, one observes a boy throwing a burly adult judo fighter on his back. Regarding the child’s opponent, various media have speculated that it could be a representation of Vladimir Putinthe Russian president who on various occasions has expressed his taste for said martial artwhich he even practices and of which he was ambassador and honorary president of his country, until he was repudiated by the International Judo Federation in February 2022.
Banksy Mural in Borodianka, Ukraine (Ed Ram/Getty Images)
The third mural shows two children using a war piece known as a war piece as a seesaw. “Czech hedgehog”which has been used since World War II as Defense obstacle against war tanks.
Banksy mural in Borodianka, Ukraine (Banksy/Instagram)
A fourth Banksy mural shows another young gymnast performing a routine with a ribbon but whose peculiarity is that wears an orthopedic collar, as if he had just suffered a neck injury. It should be mentioned that this graffiti It was held in the city of Irpín, also in the northwest of the country.
Banksy mural in Irpin, Ukraine (Ed Ram/Getty Images)
The series of murals claimed by Banksy in Ukraine is completed so far with the following graffiti. In one, uA man in a bathtub found in the city of Horenka, carried out right at the base of the huge hole left by a bombardment on a building, splitting it practically in half. The image seems to say that the man was surprised right in the middle of his bath by the war, or that he is now forced to bathe in the open given the state in which the bombing left the building.
Banksy mural in Horenka, Ukraine (Gleb Garanich/Reuters)
Banksy mural in Horenka, Ukraine (The Art Newspaper)
In another one observes a woman in a dressing gown and curling irons who at the same time carries a gas mask and a fire extinguisher in her hand (as if implying that war is part of their daily lives). East graffiti was made in the city of Hostomel and, not without some ingenuity, Banksy placed the woman on top of a chair, giving the image with this detail a certain feeling of helplessness or precariousness.
Banksy mural in Hostomel, Ukraine (The Art Newspaper)
Finally, in the capital, kyiv, Banksy took advantage of the stylized silhouette of a penis made on a wall to plant there the stamp of a tank carrierto show that the transferred object is nothing less than the representation of the male member.
Banksy mural in kyiv, Ukraine (The Art Newspaper)
It is worth mentioning that most of these murals were registered around November 12, the date on which Banksy himself began to claim as his own your instagram account.
On the other hand, before these works, Banksy had caused a stir with A mural about the covid-19 pandemic that appeared in the English city of Bristol.
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