"Russian Warship, Go F*** Yourself"
2022
Protest Sign
£250 - all proceeds to be donated to charity, please click here to visit Save Life's website 
 
“Русский Военный Корабль, Иди Нахуй” directly translates into English as “Russian Warship, Go Fuck Yourself”. This phrase was the final communication made on 24 February 2022 by Ukrainian border guard Roman Hrybov to the Russian missile cruiser Moskva during the Snake Island campaign. The Russian warship bombed the island immediately after. All the crew on the island were believed to have died; however, later, Russia declared them prisoners of war.
 
The quote became widely adopted as a slogan during the Russian invasion of Ukraine and in pro-Ukrainian protests and demonstrations in the West. It is short, to the point, and clearly depicts the truly Ukrainian attitude - it might appear a bit brash, but it is full of courage, honour and strength. 
 
While trying to channel fear, anger and frustration, Elena turned the pain into a tongue-in-cheek illustration. Inspiration came to her by walking in circles and obsessively repeating the phrase she heard repeatedly at the pro-Ukrainian rallies and anti-war protests. The first sign Elena made, the Picasso dove, did not feel authentic to the real anger brewing internally. She wanted to curse the news, the tweets, the people just like that damned ship. The poster accompanied her to many more rallies throughout 2022. Elena wanted to make a protest sign depicting all of that. She took the phrase and kept repeating it on the page again and again until it all became blurred. Two colours - yellow and blue - reference the colours of the Ukrainian flag. The ‘blue’ phrase is ironically blue, with the outline of Snake Island being yellow in the middle.