Renowned graffiti-artist Banksy has unveiled his latest work of a Ukrainian gymnast doing a handstand amid debris, on building devastated by Russia in Borodyanka. Murals spotted in and around Ukraine's capital Kyiv had led to speculation the anonymous artist was working in the war-torn country.
Banksy shared a photograph of the artwork on Instagram. Another, not officially claimed, depicts a man resembling Vladimir Putin being defeated at Judo by a young boy. The Russian president is a judo black belt and noted admirer of martial art.
The third artwork that appears to be painted by Banksy shows a female rhythmic gymnast, wearing a neck brace, performing with a ribbon on top of a gaping hole in the side of a building in Irpin.
A fourth work, which also resembles Banksy's signature spray-painted style, portrays two children sitting on a metal tank trap and using it as a seesaw spray-painted onto a concrete defensive block in Kyiv.
Banksy is one of the world’s most famous artists, who remains completely anonymous. He rose to fame with stenciled designs around Bristol in the early 1990s. But over the years, examples of his work have popped up in Paris, New York, and Park City, in Utah.
Often described as "elusive" and "secretive" by the press, the "guerrilla street artist" has a legion of fans that includes A-list celebrities.
The graffiti artist posted three images of the gymnast mural in the wreckage left by Russian shelling, with a caption merely stating ‘Borodyanka, Ukraine’. Borodyanka was one of the places hardest hit by Russia’s bombardment of Ukraine in the immediate aftermath of the February 24 invasion. The town, which is on the outskirts of Kyiv, was the site of a notorious massacre of hundreds of civilians by occupying Russian troops.
