A Ukranian artist in Kyiv has been turning anti-tank hedgehogs or obstacles into beautiful pieces of art. A video of Varvara Logvin painting colourful floral patters on the metal barriers is now viral.
According to Logvin, Ukrainians are looking for aesthetics even in war. "Now the national ornament is relevant and symbolic. And after the victory, the Renaissance will come!" she told The Odessa Journal.
"I paint anti-tank hedgehogs because I want our Ukrainian culture to sound loud, modern, relevant and necessarily cheerful," Logvin wrote on her Facebook page. "Especially at a time when the world is paying close attention to Ukraine."
Anti-tank hedgehogs are static obstacle defense mechanisms made of metal angle beams or I-beams. It is very effective in keeping light to medium tanks and vehicles from penetrating a line of defense and is efficient even when tipped over by a possible explosion nearby.
Meanwhile, as Russia and Ukraine focus on Crimea, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Washington of drawing out the war in Ukraine, as explosions rocked a Russian military facility on the Kremlin-controlled peninsula of Crimea.
The first UN-chartered vessel laden with grain meanwhile left Ukraine for Africa following a hallmark deal brokered by Turkey and the UN to relieve a global food crisis.
Read more: More explosions rock Russian-controlled Crimea
"The situation in Ukraine shows that the US is trying to prolong this conflict," Putin said, addressing the opening ceremony of a security conference in Moscow.
Washington is "using the people of Ukraine as cannon fodder", he said, lashing out at the United States for supplying weapons to Kyiv.
Russia invaded Ukraine in February, anticipating little military resistance and hoping for a lightning takeover that would topple the government in Kyiv within hours.
But after failing to capture the capital, Russia's military instead has become entrenched in a protracted bout of attrition with the sprawling front line in the east and south.
The United States has provided key economic and military backing to Kyiv, in particular supplying Ukraine with long-range, precision artillery that has allowed it to strike Russian supply facilities deep inside Moscow-controlled territory.
(With inputs from AFP)
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