A mum in Ukraine has claimed she unwittingly spoke to Banksy as he put his artwork on the walls of Borodianka. The mysterious Bristol street artist made his mark in Ukraine last year after travelling to the area following the Russian invasion.
He worked on a broken wall in a town wrecked months beforehand by artillery and warplane strikes launched by Vladimir Putin’s invading army. CCTV footage even purported to have captured him at work in the war-torn country.
While his presence in Ukraine may have initially gone under the radar, it seems he was unwittingly discovered. Yula Patoku told the Daily Mirror she ended up striking up a conversation with a man daubing art on the wall, only to find out later that the work she had seen being created was a genuine Banksy.
READ MORE: Banksy mural reportedly 'stolen' from war-torn Ukrainian town
The 42-year-old says she and her daughter Zlata, six, spoke to the British artist as he painted the image of a small child throwing a man in a martial arts fight. Yula said: “I chatted with Banksy, not knowing who he was, as he created this artwork and when he spoke to my daughter she told him she liked it.
“She told Banksy she thought it was like a child saving his father from being attacked by a monster – a bit like Ukraine rescuing the world from something evil, like Russia. The image is Ukraine beating Russia for sure but it is different perhaps from a child’s eyes. Others see it as the young Ukraine battering the evil terrorism of older Russia.”
Banksy is thought to have travelled to Borodianka in the Kyiv region to create the scene in October. Yula’s sister Oksana Koronik, 47, a married mum of two, said: “This place was devastated by those monsters. Who would do such a thing?
“I love this artwork. For me it is youthful and potent, defiant Ukraine fighting and winning against the monster of Russia – or President Zelensky beating Putin in a fight.
“It will be here forever as a reminder of how we stood up to Putin.”
The piece is now so important to locals that officials have erected a plastic covering around it. Any potential vandals are warned that motion sensors will summon a “rapid response team” to the scene if anyone gets too close.
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