Mark Jacobs 
Back in November, murals depicting various sporting scenes, including judo, began appearing on bombed out buildings in the war torn Ukrainian city of Borodyanka. The paintings were done by the renowned, anonymous graffiti artist “Banksy,” apparently in support of the Ukrainians’ resistance to the Russian invasion. Now, as the country marks the one year anniversary of the war, that judo mural has been immortalized on a Ukrainian postage stamp.
The painting depicts a child in a judo gi throwing a similarly clad, fully grown man. It’s been widely speculated the man is supposed to represent Russian leader Vladimir Putin, a noted judo enthusiast. The child is believed to represent the much smaller nation of Ukraine upending the Russian strongman. Ukrainians lined up on Friday to buy the newly released postage stamp.
“We thought that this exact stamp, this exact painting, would be the best representation of what every Ukrainian feels about our enemy,” said Ihor Smilianskyi, head of the Ukrainian Postal Service.
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Black Belt Magazine
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