Banksy unveils new works on destroyed buildings in Ukraine
Banksy has unveiled a series of new artworks on the side of partially destroyed buildings in war-torn Ukraine.
The elusive street artist created seven artworks in towns surrounding Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv, with Banksy confirming to The Art Newspaper that the works did come from him.
The first artwork to be identified, which quickly went viral online, shows a female gymnast balancing on a pile of rubble on the side of a building damaged by Russian strikes.
The graffiti artist posted three images of the piece Friday on social media, with a simple caption reading "Borodyanka, Ukraine" — an alternative spelling for the town's name.
Another artwork depicts a little boy, wearing a martial arts uniform tied with a black belt, flipping a grown man onto his back.
Some have connected the image to Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose honorary black belt was revoked earlier this year by World Taekwondo, though Banksy has not publicly commented on the image or its meaning.
Other murals showed two children using a metal tank trap as a seesaw, and a woman in hair curlers and a gas mask holding a fire extinguisher.
The series is the first set of Banksy artworks to pop up since last summer's Great British Spraycation, which saw the enigmatic artist leave behind his signature pop art commentary at sites across a number of British coastal towns.
Image credits: Getty Images