"Highly Offensive" Artwork Of Russian And Ukrainian Soldiers' Hug Removed

An artwork depicting a Russian and a Ukrainian soldier hugging each other has sparked outrage on social media. The mural was displayed in the Australian city of Melbourne. The Ukraine's Ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko described this "utterly offensive" as an attempt to distort the reality of Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to a report from Newsweek. Peter Seaton, who created the artwork advocating a "peaceful resolution" between the two countries has now removed it after the backlash.

A thread was shared by Mr Myroshnychenko along with a picture of the mural on Saturday.

1/ A recently unveiled mural in @Melbourne showing a RU and a UA soldier hugging is utterly offensive to all Ukrainians. The painter has no clue about the RU invasion of Ukraine and it is disappointing to see it done without consulting the Ukrainian community in Melbourne. pic.twitter.com/TCG6s7W9SJ

— Vasyl Myroshnychenko (@AmbVasyl) September 3, 2022

"A recently unveiled mural in Melbourne showing a RU and a UA soldier hugging is utterly offensive to all Ukrainians. The painter has no clue about the RU invasion of Ukraine and it is disappointing to see it done without consulting the Ukrainian community in Melbourne," he wrote while sharing the post.

Mr Myroshnychenko also wanted to get the mural removed at the earliest possible time because, Olga Boichak, a Sociologist from Ukraine pointed out that the mural creates a sense of a false equivalency between the victim and the aggressor.

The thread received more than 1,400 likes, hundreds of retweets and numerous comments.

"Even promoting peace has become outlawed in the 'civilized' West. Logical explanation is that the overseers of the empire demand more war...and we ain't so civilized after all," a user wrote while sharing the post.

The BBC said in a report that the mural has now been taken down. Mr Seaton - known as CTO - has apologised for his work, saying it was "clumsy" and he "didn't think it would be so badly received", the outlet further said.

Just days after finishing his "Peace Before Pieces" piece on Kings Way in Melbourne, Mr Seaton spent the night painting over it.

Thousands of Ukrainians have been killed in the war that began after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 this year. Russia has received global condemnation for the move, with US and many other western counties imposing sanctions on the country.