In Belgrade, backers of Ukraine and Russia fight with graffiti

AS GLEB PUSHEV, an artist who fled Russia to dodge the draft, was finishing a pro-Ukraine mural in Belgrade, Serbia’s capital, three toughs hurled away his paints. The mural, which took four days to paint and featured a Ukrainian poetess, was later defaced. With friends standing guard, Mr Pushev repainted it. The restored mural was soon covered in pro-Russia imagery. He painted it again under police protection and covered it with plexiglass. The sheet was then shattered and the wall painted over. Mr Pushev now prints stickers instead: “If someone rips them off, it’s less emotionally painful.”