In Kharkiv, the dream of a Ukrainian volunteer soldier, athlete and God-given artist came true – an exhibition of paintings was held, but unfortunately, posthumously. Artem Azarov, whose works were to be enjoyed far beyond the borders of Ukraine, was killed in the war with the Russian occupiers.
He was born on November 2 1995 in Kharkiv. At the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, Artem was a 4th year student at the Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Fine Arts. His talent for drawing awakened when he reached certain heights in sports. As a teenager, Artem became interested in boxing. He was a prize winner in Kharkiv region and a champion of regional tournaments. Because of his sports background, he had an atypical appearance for an artist. He was almost 2 meters tall, pumped up, fit, and broad-shouldered. He had a nickname “Artist”. The war appeared in his life long before the full-scale invasion began. Since 2017, he has completed 6 combat rotations in the ATO zone. He was also one of the founders of the volunteer unit “Frykor”. From the first hours of the Russian invasion, 26-year-old Artem and his comrades defended his native Kharkiv. On March 5, 2022, his group came under mortar attack and he was seriously injured. His comrades took Artem Azarov to the hospital, he fought for his life to the last, but died in the operating room…
He wanted to defend his diploma, but he didn’t have time – he was killed by the Russian occupiers. His dream of own art exhibition had to be realized posthumously. In early April 2023, the exhibition was held at the Kharkiv University demonstrating several dozen works – such as portraits, landscapes created by talented artist who is painting from heaven now…