When a single ceramic cocker, sitting on a kitchen cupboard, survived Borodyanka’s bombing, he became a symbol of Ukrainian resistance. So when Boris Johnson and Vladimir Zelensky received one as a gift while walking around Kyiv, it had extra significance.
As the two leaders walked the ominous empty streets of the Ukrainian capital, surrounded by armed soldiers, a woman approached and handed them two ceramic jugs in the shape of a rooster.
“I’m from London,” Johnson said, to which the woman replied with a smile.
“I know, I’m from Kharkov.”
The ceramic rooster was first designed by renowned Ukrainian artist and sculptor Prokop Bidasyuk, who worked at a local majolica factory and created many utensils, vases, toys and other ceramics.
Bidasyuk, born in 1895, has exhibited his work at the National Museum of Folk Applied Arts.
When photos of one of his ceramic roosters, survivors of Borodyanka’s bombing, surfaced, it was seen as a reflection of Ukraine’s resilience, and quickly became a meme online.
Borodyanka is located about 60 km northwest of Kyiv and was badly affected by Russian shelling, with survivors digging through the rubble to look for relatives.
On Thursday, Zelenski posted a video in the Telegram, claiming that the situation in Borodyanka was “much worse” than Bucha, where images of what appeared to be the premeditated murder of civilians appeared.
“The work on clearing the ruins in Borodyanka has started – it’s much worse there. “Even more casualties from the Russian occupiers,” he said.
The photo, which provoked the adoption of the rooster as a symbol, shows a tall building that partially collapsed during heavy shelling.
An open kitchen cabinet has survived intact, the rooster somehow still standing on it amid the destruction.
The Stoic Rooster on the Surviving Kitchen Cabinet in the Deleted Borodyanka: Created by Prokop Bidasyuk (b. 1895), a prolific worker at the local ceramics factory in Vasilkov. Creates vases, plates, toys and more. His works are on display at the National Museum of Folk Applied Arts pic.twitter.com/05X3SoODqs
– Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) April 9, 2022
Johnson was in Kyiv on an unannounced visit, meeting with the Ukrainian president to draft a new package of financial and military aid.
The visit came a day after Johnson announced additional $ 100 million in British military aid to Ukrainian forces, including anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons.
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