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New York Mural Honors Murdered Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska
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![Photo of Ivan Khomenko]( "Photo of Ivan Khomenko")
A new mural honoring Iryna Zarutska, a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee who was killed in the United States in 2025, has been unveiled on the side of a residential building in Brooklyn, New York.
According to The New York Post, the mural was created by American street artist Ben Keller. Known for his memorial works dedicated to victims of violent crime, Keller stated: “I started this campaign to make sure Iryna’s story wouldn’t disappear.”
The initiative was launched by Eoghan McCabe, CEO of tech company Intercom, who contributed $500,000 to the project. Elon Musk also supported the campaign with a $1 million donation. An additional $200,000 was raised through private contributions.
The artwork is located at the intersection of Jefferson Avenue and Evergreen Street in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn.
The mural features a large portrait of Zarutska and is part of a broader campaign aimed at commemorating victims of violence through public art. Similar murals have already appeared in Washington, D.C., Miami, and Los Angeles.
McCabe told The New York Post that the goal of the campaign is to preserve Zarutska’s memory and highlight systemic failures that allowed the attack to happen. He noted that the suspect in Zarutska’s killing had been arrested 14 times prior to the incident.
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Iryna Zarutska was killed on August 22, 2025, at the East/West Boulevard light rail station in Charlotte, North Carolina. She had arrived in the US as a refugee fleeing Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Surveillance footage showed that Zarutska was attacked without warning by a man seated behind her. The suspect, 34-year-old Decarlos Brown Jr., was arrested at the scene and later diagnosed with schizophrenia. He had a criminal history involving armed robbery and illegal weapons possession.
In October 2025, he was formally charged in Zarutska’s death. The charges carry the possibility of capital punishment. US President Donald Trump has voiced support for the death penalty in this case.
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