On May 7, a 4-meter metal sculpture was installed in Kyiv: a gun in the mouth of a war criminal — Putin. The name of the installation is almost entirely written in Ukrainian — Zастрелись, where the first letter is the Latin Z, referring to the symbol of the Russian nazi regime Z and V. The metal head and hand, which put a huge pistol into the killer/suicide's mouth, are decorated with a sign:
"History knows that war criminals have 2 ways — a trial or... Putler, understood the hint?"
Putler is a word that appeared in Ukraine at the end of February, formed by combining the names of Putin and Hitler. It reflects Putin's nazi motives and methods.
The author of the sculpture is a world-famous Ukrainian author — Dmytro Iv. His works are in several cities of Ukraine, as well as 12 private collections and museums in Germany, France, and Italy. Dmytro's works reflect reality through metal. The sculpture Shoot yourself is not a decoration for the city but a symbol of Putin's cruelty and his most likely way to go to another world — in the footsteps of the first nazi.
"When the occupiers attacked our land, the idea came to me to make a modern hard sculpture. This is my hard look at what is happening in my native country. Putin is a war criminal. And he knows that he has two ways. The first is to sit on the dock, and the second — to shoot himself. So the slogan of this work, "Putler, is the hint clear?", Dmytro Iv.
The installation, weighing 350 kg, was built in Lviv with the help of volunteers who provided a workshop and, in part, material. The sculpture caused delight among Ukrainians and will stand in Kyiv until the victory of Ukraine over Russia and the defeat of Putin.
In 2021, Dmytro Iv was selected from thousands of applicants to participate in the exhibition at the Agora gallery in New York. 20 of the world's most talented sculptors exhibited their works, among which is the work of Dmytro: a colossal toy bear cub welded from barbed wire. This bear is a display of an ugly surrogate for the life that Russia condemned the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine to 8 years ago.
Ukraine is proud to be the cradle of Dmytro Iv's talent. In 2015, the artist became the winner of the British competition of the Passion for Freedom festival. One of the artist's works was added to the collection by the French singer Patricia Kaas.
