Ukraine: Police retrieve Banksy’s mural cut from battle-scarred wall | World News

A group of people try to take a picture of graffiti artist Banksy’s mural Ukraine on Friday by cutting it off a battle-scarred wall The governor of the Kyiv region said.

The team managed to cut out a plank and plaster of a woman in a gas mask and dressing gown holding a fire extinguisher on the side of a charred building.

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But they were found at the scene in the city of Hostomel, near Kyiv, and the murals were retrieved, Oleksiy Kuleba said in a statement.

The photo is still intact and police are protecting it, he added.

“After all, these images are a symbol of our struggle against our enemies … We will do everything we can to preserve these pieces of street art as a symbol of our victory,” he said.

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Banksy, whose works can fetch millions of dollars on the art market, confirmed he painted the mural and six others last month in a site severely affected by intense fighting following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February.

Another mural shows a female gymnast doing a handstand on a small pile of concrete rubble. Another shows an elderly man taking a shower.

Police have released images of Hostomel’s yellow walls, with a large patch cutting all the way back to the brick wall. Many people were arrested at the scene, they said.

Russia’s war in Ukraine is now in its tenth month. In the first phase of the war, Moscow’s troops were pushed back from around Kyiv, but fighting continued in the east and south.