Famous street artist Banksy has revealed his latest artwork in an Instagram post – a mural in the liberated Ukrainian town of Borodianka.
The artwork shows a female athlete balancing on a pile of rubble on the side of a building damaged by Russian strikes.
The graffiti artist posted three images of the piece on social media Friday, with a simple caption that read “Borodyanka, Ukraine,” using an alternate spelling for the city’s name.
Speculation had grown that Banksy was in the war-torn country after a series of murals appeared in Borodianka, located about 35 miles northwest of the capital, Kiev.
One artwork, not officially claimed by the artist, depicted a man flipping during a judo match with a small boy.
Another showed two children using a metal tank trap as a seesaw.
Borodyanka was hit particularly hard by Russian airstrikes at the start of the invasion of Ukraine in February, with many buildings reduced to piles of rubble by long-range strikes.
It was home to 13,000 people before the war, but most left after the Russian invasion. What remained of Borodyanka, after heavy bombardment and devastating strikes, was subsequently captured by Russian forces, who entered on 28 February.
The city returned to Ukrainian control on 1 April and returning residents found their homes ransacked and shops ransacked with windows broken and contents stolen.
The letter “V” – a symbol used by Russia’s Eastern Military District in conjunction with the letter “Z”, an emblem for Moscow’s so-called “special military operation” – was found painted on buildings, vehicles and checkpoints.
The city has since been the focus of rebuilding efforts, with many tower blocks demolished as a result of the damage caused by the fighting.
