ROME – Italian street artist, Jorit, defended himself on social media after he posed for a photo with Vladimir Putin at the World Youth Festival in Sochi.

 Jorit, born Jorrit Ciro Cerullo, posted a story on Instagram with a statement hitting back at those who criticised him for posing with and embracing Russian president Putin.

 The Neapolitan wrote “the photos of Meloni’s kiss with Biden or with Netanyahu should spark at least more debate than mine with Putin” referencing recent photos of Meloni with the American and Israeli leaders who have funded and carried out recent bombings of Gaza by Israeli forces. He continued “and instead the war propaganda made us believe that on one side there are good people (the West) and on the other there are bad people (Russia, in the future China too?).”

 Last summer he was criticised for a mural in Mariupol, a city in Ukraine occupied by Russia. The work showed a small girl targeted by two missiles with the word “NATO” written on them, her eyes painted black, blue and red, the flag colours of the Dontesk People’s Republic which is a Russian backed breakaway self-styled republic in the east of Ukraine.

 Jorit had been visiting Russia to unveil a new mural of Italian actress Ornella Muti, whose maternal grandmother hailed from St Petersburg. The Russian press quoted Jorit as saying, “when I thought of a way to bring Italy and Russia closer together, I thought of the great actress Ornella Muti.”

 According to Russian media, Jorit asked Putin for a photo “to show Italy that [Putin is] a human being like all of us and that the widespread propaganda is false.” However, he denied on social media that he was praising Putin in any way.  

 In his statement on Instagram, Jorit defended his presence in Russia, saying the visit was “consistent with the journey of artistic militancy” that he has been pursuing and he aimed to “spread a message of peace.” He appealed to “European politicians” who “must immediately resume diplomatic contacts and open a dialogue with Russia.” Concluding his statement, he said “we need to stop the war, we need to build bridges between people, we need to do it now!”

 khg