The John Lennon mural in Ukraine

«Give Peace a Chance», a John Lennon tribute portrait by Andrey Palval in Izum, Ukraine.

During August 2017 in the city of Izyum, Ukraine, the Literary and Music Festival “The Road to the East” was held. The “Sovetskaya Square” is in the city center, but many people were sure that it was called “Vladimir Lenin Square”. After the Maidan in Kyiv (“Independence Square” – where Paul McCartney gave a free concert in 2008), a wave swept across the country of getting rid of all the communist names of streets and places, names were either changed back to their pre-communism names, or they got totally new names. In Izium, “Sovetskaya Square” became the Lennon Square.

Artist Andrey Palval paints murals, and he thought that the festival would be an excellent opportunity to leave a mural as a memory. On August 19th, 2017 the mural was presented to the public. It was the first painted mural in the city of Izum. On the mural Lennon’s slogan is written in Ukrainian and in Russian – it sounds and spells the same: “Give Peace a Chance”.

Sadly, after attacks on the city in the ongoing war, this is what the wall and building looks like after a Russian airstrike in early March.

The mural in a recent photo, supplied by the artist, Andrey Palval.