A mural that anonymous British street artist Banksy painted on a bombed-out building in Ukraine has been turned into a postage stamp mocking Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Ukrainian Postal Service put the stamp on sale on Friday, marking the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of the country.
In the image, a young judoka knocks down a grown man, interpreted as Putin’s representative. “FCK PTN” – meaning “To hell with Putin” – appears in Cyrillic in the lower left corner of the stamp.
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“We thought that this exact stamp, this exact painting, would be the best representation of how every Ukrainian feels about our enemy,” Postal Service chief Ihor Smilianskyi said, according to Reuters.
Just weeks after the invasion began last year, the Ukrainian Post Office issued a stamp commemorating a border guard’s defiant cry: “Russian warship, go to hell!”
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It is unclear whether Banksy authorized the use of his artwork on the new stamp.
Representatives for the artist did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.
The mural featured on the stamp is one of seven that Banksy painted in and around the capital, Kyiv, last year. He documented the trip with a video on Instagram.
One of his paintings, depicting a woman in a gas mask, is under police protection after a group of people allegedly tried to steal it. Now, his other works of art in Ukraine are being monitored around the clock.
In December, Banksy said he had created a limited edition to raise money for the Legacy of War Foundation to support those affected by the conflict. The artist also said he used one of the foundation’s ambulances to escape an “angry babushka” who found him painting on his building.
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After asking people to express their interest in buying one of the 50 copies, the charity received thousands of “hostile attacks” from internet users connected to locations in Russia, the statement said. We are now processing millions of records.
Back in England, meanwhile, Banksy confirmed on Valentine’s Day that he was behind a comment about domestic violence in Margate. Authorities later removed the movable parts of the structure for safety reasons.
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See all of Banksy’s art from Ukraine here:
