Art / News
People try to steal Banksy mural of gas-masked woman from Ukraine wall
A group has tried to take a mural by street artist Banksy in Ukraine by cutting it off a building where it was painted.
Police said a number of people were arrested at the scene in Hostomel, near Kyiv, and the painting has been retrieved and remains intact.
The work in question, feating the image of a woman in a gas mask and dressing gown holding a fire extinguisher on the side of a scorched building, was one of several created by Bristol-born Banksy in the war-torn country.
is needed now More than ever
Other murals show people doing daily tasks on bombed buildings in Hostomel, Horenka and Borodyanka including children playing a game among metal antitank barriers and a girl doing gymnastics on rubble.
https://www.instagram.com/p/ClEaVDJOPaM/?hl=en
“These images are, after all, symbols of our struggle against the enemy … We’ll do everything to preserve these works of street art as a symbol of our victory,” the governor of Kyiv region Oleksiy Kuleba said in a statement.
Police published images of the yellow wall, with a portion patch cut all the way back to the brickwork.
Banksy confirmed he had painted the mural and six others in November in places that were badly affected by heavy fighting after Russia invaded Ukraine in February.
The anonymous street artist has travelled to areas affected by war and conflict in the past, including the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
Main photo: @banksy
Read next:
- Banksy releases footage of artworks on Ukraine’s crumbling buildings
- Bristol student swipes Banksy’s professorship at graduation
- Long queues as fie shops across Bristol sell Banksy t-shirts
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