LIFE IN KYIV

Despatch from the frontline

- JOHN MARONE

MURALISTS in Kyiv are using walls that have so far escaped destruction by Russia to thank the nation’s defenders.

There are vivid depictions of heroic Ukrainian soldiers killed in combat as well as a memorial to PoWs still languishing in captivity and even a nod to the countless volunteers who provide the army with badly needed daily support. They all fill the otherwise often dull grey space left by the capital's architecture.

Dmitry Kasianyuk, 33, dedicated his almost 500sq ft painting to the typical Ukrainian soldier.

He said: "I did not have a specific soldier in mind, so I decided to honour all our military men."