MOSCOW, August 27 (RIA Novosti) - The country residence of Ukraine’s former President Viktor Yanukovych on the coast of the Azov Sea has been turned into a base for the National Guard’s Azov Battalion and painted in a traditional Ukrainian style, the Donetsk Region administration reported on its website.
“The creation of a new art object out of the existing military base is meant, first and foremost, to support the Army and the patriotic sentiment of Mariupol’s [big city, closest to the residence] population and visitors. This is the initiative by the [pro-Kiev] Donetsk Region Governor Serhiy Taruta,” the Donetsk Region administration said in a news release.
Yanukovych’s former residence is situated in the Urzuf village in southeastern Ukraine. It has been given to the so-called Azov Battalion, a Kiev-backed unit known for its use of the neo-Nazi-Wolfangel symbol.
Petrikivsky painting, or petrikivka, a traditional Ukrainian decorative and ornamental flower painting on a white background, was used to decorate the compound. In 2013, UNESCO included petrikivka in its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
The painting of the fence around Yanukovych’s former residence, by artist Olga Cheryomushkina, took three weeks. The Azov Battalion soldiers helped the artist to paint the fence white, the Donetsk Region administration added.
Ukraine saw a coup d’etat on February 22 following nationwide mass protests and the country’s parliament removed President Yanukovych from power, changing the Constitution and scheduling new presidential election for May 25 in which Petro Poroshenko was brought to power.
