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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Emma Graham-Harrison Photographs by Alessio Mamo

‘It symbolises resistance’: Ukrainians get tattoos to back war effort

A stylised Ukrainian coat of arms tattooed on the neck of a woman in Kyiv.
A stylised Ukrainian coat of arms tattooed on the neck of a woman in Kyiv. Photograph: Alessio Mamo/The Guardian

Ukrainians are inking the fight for their country on to their bodies, with artists getting requests for tattoos of molotov cocktails, anti-tank missiles and even a type of bread that has become an unlikely symbol of national identity because Russians struggle to pronounce it.

As people filtered back to Kyiv after Russian troops abandoned their attempts to seize it, tattoo artists noticed an increasing demand for art that paid tribute to this spring of tragedy and violence, and to Ukraine’s spirit of resistance.

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