GIFTED! UKRAINIAN’S ART-FELT THANK YOU
Israeli raid leaves hospital destroyed
ISRAELI troops pulled out of Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital yesterday after a two-week raid, leaving the site in ruins.
Mohammed Mahdi, one of hundreds who returned to the area, described a scene of ‘total destruction’. He said several buildings had been burned down. He counted six bodies, including two in the hospital courtyard.
The army said it killed scores of Hamas fighters who were using the complex as a base.
But head of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said 21 patients had died since Israel began its siege and more than 100 patients were still there.
■ TWO drones controlled by Houthi rebels have been shot down by US troops protecting merchant ships in the Red Sea. One was hit flying over the shipping route, while the other was blasted in Yemen before take-off. ‘These actions are necessary to make international waters safer and more secure,’ said a Pentagon spokesman.
PA
A SCULPTOR who fled Ukraine with just a suitcase as Russia invaded has been honoured by the prestigious Royal Society of British Artists.
Alex Lidagovsky said: ‘My studio near Kyiv was destroyed at the beginning of the war. I knew about it later from friends who sent me photos of destroyed and bombed studio.’
Alex, wife Dasha and stepdaughter Sofia, 16, reached London and were put up by a friend though the Homes For Ukraine scheme.
He was determined to still create art, and World Jewish Relief’s specialist employment scheme gave him a dedicated adviser, Caitlin Bugler. With her help, his work Swallow’s Flight now features in the Biennale Cartasia, the world’s biggest paper art event, in Lucca, Italy.
He said his ‘exciting and unexpected’ honorary membership of the society showed the UK’s support for Ukrainian artists, adding: ‘I found out on my birthday – so it felt like a gift.’