Illusion - Volodymyr Pielikh
“The war in Ukraine started by Russia inspired me to draw this caricature,” explains Ukrainian artist Volodymyr Pielikh. “This piece makes me proud of my country, and for the bravery of Ukrainian heroes [who are] outnumbered by Russians, yet are still strong and holding their ground.”
The caricature works to show Ukraine ending Russia’s “war machine”. “Ukrainians showed to the whole world that Russia is not as strong as everyone thought,” he adds. “I want people to understand that brutal force, ignorance and false motives have no chance against freedom and bravery.”
“In this picture you can see Putin holding a hammer, surrounded by broken plaster on the map”. The artwork highlights countries like Belarus—which is currently under complete Russian control, as well as Moldova and Georgia—territories which were taken by Russia within the last 25 years. “Russia has never faced any punishment for taking over part of Moldova in the 1990s, nor for the 2008 war in Georgia.”
“You can see the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, holding a bucket of plaster to fix what has been broken by Russia because the Ukrainian nation is about to change this image—the world will see what Putin’s Russia really is.”