Ukraine Turns Banksy Street Art Into Postage Stamp Taunting Vladimir Putin
A mural that anonymous British street artist Banksy painted on a bombed-out building in Ukraine in solidarity with its citizens amid Russia’s war has been transformed into a postage stamp that taunts Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Ukrainian Postal Service released the stamp for sale on Friday, the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion.
In the image, a young judoka slams a grown man, interpreted to represent Putin, to the ground. “FCK PTN” — i.e. “Fuck Putin” — appears in Cyrillic on the lower left of the stamp.
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“We thought that this exact stamp, this exact painting would be the best representation of what every Ukrainian feels about our enemy,” said Ihor Smilianskyi, the head of the postal service, reported Reuters.
Last year, just weeks into the invasion, Ukraine’s postal service released this stamp commemorating a border guard’s defiant rallying cry of: “Russian warship, go fuck yourself!”
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It’s unclear if Banksy authorized the use of his artwork on the new stamp.
Representatives for the artist did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.
The mural that appears on the stamp is one of seven that Banksy painted in and around the capital Kyiv last year.
He documented the trip via this Instagram video:
One of his paintings, of a woman in a gas mask, is now under police protection after a group of people was busted allegedly trying to steal it.
The other artworks are now reportedly being monitored around the clock.
In December, Banksy said he’d created a limited-edition print to raise money for the Legacy of War Foundation supporting citizens caught up in the war.
The artist said he used one of the foundation’s ambulances to escape an “angry babushka” who found him painting on her building.
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The charity received thousands of “hostile attacks from Russian IP addresses” after it requested people register their interest in buying one of the just 50 prints, it said. It is now processing the 1 million registrations.
Back in England, meanwhile, Banksy on Valentine’s Day confirmed he was behind this commentary on domestic violence in Margate, Kent. Authorities later removed moving parts of the installation over safety fears.
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See all of Banksy’s Ukraine art here:
Banksy in Ukraine
