Street Artist Documents War in Ukraine, One Stark Mural at a Time

As Ukrainian troops made progress in pushing Russian forces back from the outskirts of Kharkiv, a street artist named Gamlet Zinkivskyi expressed his eagerness to fight for his hometown. Zinkivskyi had previous experience with firearms and joined a volunteer unit defending the city. However, the battalion’s leader recognized the power of Zinkivskyi’s art and asked him to paint in the streets instead of taking up arms. Despite initially being skeptical, Zinkivskyi complied and began painting in the damaged and empty streets of Kharkiv while wearing a bulletproof vest that held his painting tools.