'Putin Eobeochigi' Banksy Mural Becomes Ukrainian Stamp

Issued as a Commemorative Stamp for the 1-Year Anniversary of the War on the 24th
Stamps Also Released During the Sinking of the Moskva and the Explosion on the Crimean Bridge

The mural left by the "faceless painter" Banksy on the ruins of the Ukraine war has been issued as a postage stamp in Ukraine.

According to foreign media including the British BBC on the 26th (local time), the Ukrainian Postal Service issued a commemorative stamp featuring Banksy's work on the 24th, marking exactly one year since Russia invaded Ukraine.

On the 24th (local time), marking one year since Russia's invasion of Ukraine triggered the war, Ukraine issued a commemorative stamp featuring Banksy's mural "Putin Carrying."
[Photo by AFP Yonhap News]

The original mural had previously caused a great sensation. In November last year, Banksy posted three photos of the mural on his Instagram along with a brief caption, "Borodianka, Ukraine." Borodianka is a city located northwest of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, which suffered heavy damage from Russian bombings in February of the same year during the early stages of the war. The mural in the Instagram photos depicted a young gymnast girl balancing on her hands in a handstand pose on the rubble of a destroyed building.

Later, it was revealed that there are other murals painted by Banksy in Ukraine. The mural featured on the commemorative stamp, which is also the original, shows a small boy wearing a judo uniform performing a shoulder throw on a large man resembling Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia. Additionally, Banksy left a painting of a young boy and girl playing seesaw on a concrete barricade in Kyiv.

President Putin, a judo black belt, is known as an avid judo fan who has even published books related to judo. Therefore, it has become an established fact that the man in Banksy's mural is "Putin."

On the 24th (local time), citizens gathered at the Central Post Office in Kyiv, Ukraine, to purchase commemorative stamps.
[Photo by AFP Yonhap News]

At the bottom left of the commemorative stamp, there is an abbreviation in Ukrainian meaning "Putin, go away." On the 24th, the day the stamp was released, crowds of citizens flocked to Kyiv's central post office to buy the stamp.

Previously, the Ukrainian Postal Service issued several commemorative stamps related to the war situation. In April last year, they issued a commemorative stamp after the sinking of the Moskva, the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, and seven months later in November, they issued a stamp commemorating the explosion on the Crimean Bridge. This stamp borrowed a famous scene from the movie "Titanic," depicting a man embracing a woman with her arms outstretched to the sides from behind, but the background showed black smoke and a collapsing bridge, mocking Russia.