As Russia bombs, Ukraine’s artists squeeze frozen paint from the tube

By Anna Voitenko

KYIV, Jan 26 (Reuters) – In his cramped Kyiv studio where icicles hang from the tap in the bathroom sink, surrealist painter Yuriy Denysenkov reckons he can work a bit more today if he can just keep the room warm enough so paint will still squeeze from the tube.

Russia’s relentless bombardment of Ukraine’s heating and power system has left millions of Ukrainians facing the coldest and darkest winter yet after four years of war.

“The paint freezes and it’s hard to squeeze it out,” he says, managing to squirt a streak of dark blue onto a palette.

“If I do it quickly like this, I can even get a bit warmer,” he says as he makes quick brush strokes on a moody picture of a child sticking a toe into a puddle in the countryside with a dog.

In another studio, steam billows from Oleksandr Liapin’s lips as the 70-year-old dabs at a painting of an astonished-looking white bunny in a room with a candle on the ceiling – painted in bright yellow, pink and orange in a naive style.

It’s minus 10 Celsius (14 F) outside, but it’s nudged a bit above freezing inside, thanks to a gas camping stove that boiled up a kettle.

At least three members of the art collective are currently serving in the military – one of whom is missing in action. Liapin’s weapon is his paintbrush.

“The world sees that we’re living on and fighting. That’s why they’re helping us,” Liapin said.

(Writing by Dan PeleschukEditing by Peter Graff)