The horrendous pictures of the dead bodies of civilians, hands tied behind their backs, lying in the streets of Bucha, that emerged after the withdrawal of the Russian army from the Ukrainians town, horrified the world and it accused Russia of committing war crimes. The local authorities say more than 300 people were killed and buried in a mass grave near a church in Bucha during the Russian occupation, another mass grave of 57 innocent victims has been found.

On the night of April 3, when world media were releasing the horrific pictures of the massacre in Bucha, foremost Bulgarian animator Theodore Ushev posted, on social media, a drawing depicting the horror of what is happening. 

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The picture is of the eye of a child, in which the distorted face of his killer is reflected – a Russian soldier, branded with a Z that has become the official symbol of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Within hours the drawing went viral, it was shared thousands of times with innumerable comments calling for an immediate end to the massacre in Ukraine.

Talking to public service TV BNT, visibly upset, Theodore Ushev commented:

“I sat down and did the drawing quite spontaneously, and I was thinking it would be easy. I sat down without any idea, and all the time I was drawing the poster my hands were shaking. That is a first for me. For the first time I felt helpless. I want keep my silence in memory of the innocent victims massacred – of the children, the women, the old people who, just one month before that had been leading normal lives. I have always been an optimist, I have always thought art can change the world, but at this time all I feel is absolute despair and helplessness that art may be able to change things,” Theo Ushev said.

The influential animator is well known for his active citizenship on an array of important issues. Some time ago Theo posted, on social media, a drawing of the eyes of the doctors taking care of him in a hospital Covid ward. The drawing went viral immediately, and was put up on dozens of billboards throughout Sofia as a gesture of gratitude to all front line medics in the fight against Covid-19.

Compiled by Veneta Nikolova