'Ukraine: Revolutionary Fighter/Cook' Award Winner - Limited Edition 1 of 20 Photograph

War between civilizations has been a constant since the Stone Age. Once victors killed, raped the women, sometimes even ate the vanquished or enslaved them. Over time, so-called 'rules' have developed for conduct in war, though often honored in the breach. This man, both a street fighter and a cook (mobile military stove, background) with his fellow revolutionaries sought to overthrow Ukraine's president a few years ago in the Maidan (My Don) citizen insurrection. In their fall through winter protest, they set up a tent city behind improvised barricades in Kiev's center.. Protests began in a somewhat subdued manner. Fighters mostly peacefully first set up a tent city in Kiev's center and adjacent Maidan (Freedom park) in the heart of Kiev. They protested the president's efforts to align Ukraine politically and economically with next door neighbor Russia. Outside of those in Ukraine's east near the Russian border, a majority of Ukrainians from the center through the west of Europe's largest country sought to align their future with Europe, the US and the West in general. Tent city protesters mostly were peaceful at first. Later armed battles developed between the insurgents and police, but not Ukraine's military which stayed sidelined. As conflicting forces engaged, revolutionaries threw up barricades, and almost daily street skirmishes developed between insurgents and police (Militia). Milia tried to ous the protesters but were met by force back. Street fighters said they were seeking to overthrow what they termed a 'corrupt' president who had however been freely elected. Armed with shields, pike-like weapons and even firebombs, (bottles filled with flaming gasoline thrown across skirmish lines), pitched battles ensured, but almost entirely free of firearms. Some deaths occurred but fewer,I think, than 25 at first. Finally one day in Winter, 2014, unidentified rooftop snipers started picking off insurgents, and the 'gentlemen's agreement' not to use firearms or cause widespread death was promptly extinguished after in one day around 100 were killed by sniper bullets. Who ordered snipers to fire remains a point of contention. The implied mutual agreement not to use firearms and rely mainly on physical force then was broken. Insurgents threatened the life of the president they opposed, They claimed he was corrupt. They blamed him for the deadly sniper fire. The president fled by helicopter then jet to a far-off part of Ukraine, since overtaken by Russia, and subsequently he went into exile in Russia. Insurgents turned victors entered the several hundred acre grounds and country house of the president they alleged was corrupt and found that the previously 'simple life the president said he lead was belied by extravagant surroundings. The residence and grounds of the ousted president were adorned with gold fixtures, there was a private zoo with exotic animals, and it appeared no expense was spared to build and outfit that extraordinary residence mostly constructed in secrecy. Instead of looting it for obvious treasures, revolutionaries and non combatants alike immediately preserved the house and turned it later into what they termed a 'Museum of Corruption'. . The intact and extravagant residence was opened to Ukrainians so, the victorious insurgents said, the citizens could see how a mostly poor country had been 'looted' and where their taxes and treasure had gone. Protesting Russia claimed insurgents were like 'Nazis' when Russia broadcast to Eastern Ukrainians, most of Russian descent and language. After a civilian airliner was shot down by a rocket, war between Russian backers and Ukrainian regulars broke out in the far east near the Russian border.. Following a force bof 'little green men (Russian soldiers without identifying insignia), Russia then annexed Ukraine's Crimea.. That war has claimed over 10,000 lives and sent a claimed 1.5 million residents fleeing to safety both in Russia and Ukraine. So called Russian 'military volunteers' and allegedly regular Russian soldiers backed insurgent Eastern Ukrainians in an insurrection to break away from Ukraine. That tuned into deadly war in Ukraine's far east which continues to this day. That war started apparently in part by Russian reaction to the revolutionaries of Maidan who overthrew a president. Allegedly Russia's leadership feared the Russian populace might try to emulate their neighbors, and allegedly the current war is in reaction to the successful Maidan uprising. This revolutionary cook and fighter helped set off those deadly events, as he and his friends sought to rid Ukraine of a president they said was corrupt.

Photography:Digital on Paper

Artist Produced Limited Edition of:1

Size:36 W x 23.9 H x 0.1 D in

Delivery Time:Typically 5-7 business days for domestic shipments, 10-14 business days for international shipments.