PM Boris Johnson with a porcelain cockerel he was presented with in Kyiv
(Picture: )Photographs of the Prime Minister and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky clutching ceramic jugs in the shape of a cockerel were shared around the world.
The two leaders were presented with them by a woman as they were escorted through the streets of Kyiv under armed guard prompting the Prime Minister to tell her: “I’m from London”, to which she replied: “I know, I’m from Kharkiv.”
The jug presented to the Prime Minister is inspired by a single ceramic bird which survived the Russian bombardment of the town of Borodianka.
The original was pictured sitting on top of a kitchen cabinet inside the bomb-blasted remains of a home destroyed by shelling.
The image of the rooster, first designed by a famous Ukrainian artist Prokop Bidasiuk, quickly inspired online memes and was adopted by the Ukrainian people as a symbol of their resistance to the Russian invasion.
Sharing an image of the moment on Twitter, Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the bird had become “a symbol of inviolability”.
On the kitchen cabinet that remained mounted after the shelling of #Borodianka and became a symbol of inviolability, a ceramic rooster made by #Ukrainian artist Prokip Bidasiuk was recognized. Today @ZelenskyyUa and @BorisJohnson were presented with same roosters.#WeAreUkraine pic.twitter.com/OZAEnxeT0m
— MFA of Ukraine 🇺🇦 (@MFA_Ukraine) April 9, 2022
Borodianka is less than 40 miles from Kyiv and was badly hit by Russian shelling. President Zelensky said the situation in the town was “much worse” than in Bucha where pictures have appeared which show what seem to be targetted killings of civlians with bodies fouind lying in the streets with their hands tied behind their backs.
In a video posted online, President Zelensky said: “The work to clear the rubble in Borodianka has begun …it’s significantly more dreadful there. Even more victims from the Russian occupiers.”
The Prime Minister’s visit to Kyiv was described as “very important” for the Ukrainian people by President Zelensky’s chief diplomatic adviser.
Igor Zhovkva told Sunday Morning on BBC One: “Every visit, every phone call, every act of support counts and brings us to victory.”
He said Mr Zelensky is determined to meet leaders in the capital, to speak to foreign parliaments and talk with the foreign leaders.
