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Updated May 1st, 2023 at 12:18 IST

French artist creates mural of executed Ukrainian soldier on a state building in Kyiv

A large mural depicting a fallen Ukrainian soldier who fought in the ongoing Russian-Ukraine war appeared on the side of a government building in Kyiv.

Reported by: Bhagyasree Sengupta
Ukraine
Image: Facebook - Верховна Рада України | Image:self
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A large mural depicting a fallen Ukrainian soldier, who fought in the ongoing Russian-Ukraine war, appeared on the side of a government building in the heart of Ukraine’s national capital Kyiv. The sighting of the beautiful painting was shared on Facebook by the Ukrainian Parliament. According to CNN, the mural showed the face of the Ukrainian soldier who was executed by the Russian forces back in 2022. In the post, the Ukrainian Parliament stated that the artwork was created by Paris-based French artist Christian Guemy also known as C215 and depicted the late Oleksandr Matsiyevsky, who was executed by the Russian forces in 2022. 

“A mural with the inscription "Glory to Ukraine" appeared in the centre of the capital. Glory to the heroes,” the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada wrote in a Facebook post. “The mural was created on one of the administrative buildings of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and is dedicated to the memory of all those killed during the war. The wall depicts the hero of Ukraine Oleksandr Matsiyevsky, who was shot by Russians after the spoken words: "Glory to Ukraine,” the post further read. Matsiyevsky was serving as a sniper with the 163rd Battalion of the 119th Separate Tank Brigade and was deployed in the Chernihiv region of the war-stricken country.

The execution of Matsiyevsky

The Ukrainian soldier was shot dead by Russian forces on December 30 after he was reported missing from the Krasna Hora village. Moscow later claimed the occupation of the village located in the Donetsk region. What made matters worse is the fact that the video of his execution later surfaced online. In the video, Matsiyevsky can be seen pulling out a cigarette and saying “Slava Ukraini (Glory to Ukraine)”, before the Russian troops fired several shots at him.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy then went on to condemn the execution and pledged to “find his murderers”.  “Today, a video has been released showing how the occupiers brutally killed a warrior who bravely said to their faces: ‘Glory to Ukraine,’” Zelenskyy said in his nightly address last year. “I want us all to respond to his words in unity: ‘Glory to the hero. Glory to heroes. Glory to Ukraine. We will find the murderers,” the Ukrainian President further added. Zelenskyy eventually awarded Matsiyevsky with Ukraine’s highest honour, the “Hero of Ukraine” posthumously. 

An ode to Ukrainian soldiers 

The Ukrainian Parliament stated in the post that the country’s delegation discovered the French artist when they saw his work in the building of the National Assembly of the French Republic. From there, both parties decided to do something similar in the war-stricken country. “This is not the first work of Christian Guemi in Ukraine. Before that, he had already created street work in Lviv, Zhytomyr, Kyiv and the released Buchi, Gostomel and Irpen of the Kyiv region,” the Ukrainian Parliament wrote in the post. 

The Head of the Verkhovna Rada Apparatus of Ukraine, Vyacheslav Štuchny, lauded the efforts of the artist and stated that the mural is a tribute to the memory of all the Ukrainian heroes who defended the country in the devastating war. "We must always remember the feat of each of our heroes, every heroine, who at the cost of everything bring Ukraine's Victory over the cruel Russian aggressor closer,” the Head of the parliament asserted. “And this memory must be eternal from generation to generation,” Štuchny added.

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Published April 30th, 2023 at 21:46 IST

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