In November 2022, amid the charred remnants of buildings and communities shattered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the elusive street artist Banksy reappeared with a series of powerful, site-specific murals. These works—seven in total—were not only acts of artistic intervention but potent symbols of solidarity and resilience. Stenciled in bombed towns like Borodyanka, Irpin, Hostomel, and Kyiv, Banksy’s Ukrainian murals draw on his classic vocabulary of irony, innocence, and provocation, while adapting poignantly to the urgency of war.

Banksy’s murals in Ukraine serve as poignant commentaries on the human cost of war, the resilience of the Ukrainian people, and the juxtaposition of innocence against the backdrop of conflict. Through his art, Banksy brings global attention to the struggles faced by civilians and underscores the universal desire for peace and normalcy in times of turmoil.

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The first artwork to be identified, which went viral over the weekend, shows a female gymnast balancing on a pile of rubble on the side of a building damaged by Russian strikes.

A young gymnast, mid-handstand, balances elegantly atop the rubble of a destroyed high-rise building. Her poise and grace contrast strikingly with the fractured concrete beneath her, turning a symbol of ruin into a stage for resilience.

This image evokes a haunting ballet between fragility and strength. The gymnast, a recurring symbol in Soviet visual culture, re-emerges here not as propaganda but as human endurance incarnate. Her balance is not just physical—it mirrors the psychological equilibrium civilians must find amid catastrophe. Banksy, ever the poet of contrast, offers hope literally rising from ruins.

This mural depicts a young boy flipping an older man in a judo match. The older man resembles Russian President Vladimir Putin, a known judo enthusiast. This piece represents the underdog triumphing over a more powerful adversary, reflecting Ukraine’s resistance against Russian aggression. The image was later featured on a Ukrainian postage stamp to commemorate the first anniversary of the invasion

Putin is a black belt in judo, which adds another layer to the visual punch. Here, the child becomes a metaphor for Ukraine: underestimated, yet agile and unyielding. The mural subverts power dynamics and delivers a David vs. Goliath statement with surgical satire. Ukraine’s postal service later immortalized the mural on a stamp—an act of cultural resistance as much as national pride.

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Two children play on a seesaw formed by a metal tank trap (a Czech hedgehog). Their joy seems innocent—until you realize they are balanced on an instrument of war.

This piece dissects the surreal coexistence of play and peril. Banksy repositions a brutal object into a playground prop, questioning what kind of world forces children to grow up next to weapons. It’s both a lament and a plea for a return to peace, channeling themes reminiscent of Bruegel’s “Children’s Games” but with modern cruelty.

An old man crouches in a freestanding bathtub, scrubbing himself with awkward care amid the exposed interior of a bombed building.

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A woman in a housecoat and curlers stands precariously on a chair. She wears a gas mask and wields a fire extinguisher—both absurd and defiant.

This image portrays domestic resilience and the everyday heroism of civilians adapting to wartime conditions. Notably, this mural was later removed from the wall, allegedly in an attempt to sell it, leading to legal consequences. In her kitchen garb, she’s a domestic warrior—facing existential threats with the limited tools of everyday life. Her absurdity is tragicomic, echoing Charlie Chaplin’s resistance in The Great Dictator. When looters attempted to steal this mural from its wall, the authorities intervened—testament to the artwork’s perceived civic importance.

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Using pre-existing graffiti, Banksy transforms a phallic tag into a Russian military truck carrying a missile adorned with a “Z”—the letter now symbolic of Russian aggression.

This subversive intervention critiques not only militarism but also the banal masculinity often embedded in it. Banksy defaces the defacers, using their own symbols against them—a Duchampian twist that reclaims vandalism as vision.

7. Gymnast with a Ribbon (Irpin)

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A young girl in a neck brace performs a rhythmic gymnastics routine with a flowing ribbon, her body poised atop the remains of a ruined structure.

Unlike the first gymnast, this figure is visibly wounded. Still, she performs. The ribbon, flowing like a flag or a scar, suggests recovery in motion. The mural is an ode to the human capacity for beauty even after trauma, a theme that echoes Picasso’s wounded yet luminous characters from his Blue Period.

When Spray Paint Becomes Witness

Banksy’s visit to Ukraine was not an anonymous vacation into geopolitics—it was an act of witnessing. His murals are not just art; they are evidence. Each one engages with the debris of war but finds, within it, metaphors for endurance, irony, hope, and protest. Unlike museum-bound masterpieces, these works breathe in the open air—where real people, in real time, must confront destruction and rebuild lives.

They serve as artistic signposts for history: silent, urgent, and impossible to ignore.