26 February 2023 , 20:51
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Mum Yula Patoku poses with a Banksy artwork that salutes her native Ukraine’s defiance of bully state Russia.
The 42-year-old says she and her daughter Zlata, six, spoke to the British artist as he painted the image of a small child throwing a man in a martial arts fight.
Yula told the Daily Mirror: “I chatted with Banksy, not knowing who he was, as he created this artwork and when he spoke to my daughter she told him she liked it.
“She told Banksy she thought it was like a child saving his father from being attacked by a monster – a bit like Ukraine rescuing the world from something evil, like Russia.
“The image is Ukraine beating Russia for sure but it is different perhaps from a child’s eyes. Others see it as the young Ukraine battering the evil terrorism of older Russia.”
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Borodianka came under Russian bombardment last year (Rowan Griffiths / Daily Mirror)Banksy is thought to have travelled to Borodianka in the Kyiv region to create the scene in October.
He worked on a broken wall in a town wrecked months beforehand by artillery and warplane strikes launched by Vladimir Putin’s invading army.
Yula’s sister Oksana Koronik, 47, a married mum of two, said: “This place was devastated by those monsters. Who would do such a thing?
“I love this artwork.
“For me it is youthful and potent, defiant Ukraine fighting and winning against the monster of Russia – or President Zelensky beating Putin in a fight.
“It will be here forever as a reminder of how we stood up to Putin.”
The piece is now so important to locals that officials have erected a plastic covering around it.
Any potential vandals are warned that motion sensors will summon a “rapid response team” to the scene if anyone gets too close.
The piece is thought to be one of seven Bansky has put up in Ukraine.