Despite being fined by the authorities and having his work painted over, Russian artist Vladimir Ovchinnikov is determined to continue his art calling for peace
Despite being fined by the authorities and having his work painted over, Russian artist Vladimir Ovchinnikov is determined to continue his art calling for peace Copyright AFP

Russian street artist promotes peace with Ukraine despite local backlash

By Euronews with AFP
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For 84-year-old Russian artist, Vladimir Ovchinnikov, his street art has the power to promote peace. But that's not without clear opposition from his local community.

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Retired engineer Vladimir Ovchinnikov has spent decades painting murals in his small town south of Moscow but finds some of his art is not welcome after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"They've painted over it," Ovchinnikov, 84, said at an abandoned shop in a village field near Borovsk, his town of about 10,000 people, two hours' drive from the Russian capital.

Ovchinnikov had painted a blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flag on one side of the building, but it had been covered over in white paint.

Moving briskly, he pulled out a black pencil and began to draw a dove over the whitewash, until another local man approached and threatened to call the police.

But Ovchinnikov insisted he had no fears about continuing his efforts.

"At my age, I'm not afraid of anything," he said in an interview at his home. "If there are any complaints against me, no one will suffer."

Opposition to his work

AP Photo
A woman walks past some street art made by Ovchinnikov in BorovskAP Photo

Since Russia sent troops into Ukraine on February 24, authorities have moved against any signs of opposition to what Moscow calls a "special military operation" in the pro-Western country.

Thousands of protesters have been detained, independent media have been shut down and several people have been convicted and fined under a law that makes it a crime to "discredit" the Russian armed forces.

Ovchinnikov is one of them. He was fined 35,000 rubles (about €400 euros) after he drew a little girl wearing the colours of the Ukrainian flag with three bombs hanging over her head on a building in Borovsk.

It too was whitewashed and Ovchinnikov painted a dove in its place.

He received more than 150 donations from locals to help pay the fine.

Ovchinnikov is well known for his art in and around Borovsk, and one of his drawings dedicated to the town's liberation from Nazi troops in 1942 adorns the walls of the town's conscription office.

Shining a light on political issues through art

AFP
Ovchinnikov gestures during an interview in his house in the city of BorovskAFP

One of his recent murals - of two women holding hands with ribbons matching the colours of the Russian and Ukrainian flags in their hair - has so far been left untouched.

"This friendship has been destroyed, we can only be nostalgic," Ovchinnikov said, adding that the drawing was a copy of a Soviet-era poster.

His art has long had a political edge. In 2003, Ovchinnikov came across a book with the names of victims of Soviet repression in the Kaluga region - where Borovsk is located - listing those who were either shot or sent to the Gulag.

He launched campaigns to have many of the victims rehabilitated - a legal process where they are posthumously acquitted of any crimes - but faced numerous rejections.

In 2015 and 2016, Ovchinnikov painted the portraits of victims of repression on the walls of Borovsk, each time seeing the drawings removed or vandalised.

Ovchinnikov worries that Russian society is being torn apart by a new "schism" and fears the country could head "in a very bad direction".

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He said he would continue his work, believing in the power of art to promote peace.

"I draw to show how I understand things... and maybe to have an influence on others," he said. "It's for those who aren't interested in politics... who know nothing and just sit in front of the television."

Video editor • Theo Farrant

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