For Him, Art Was Action: Honoring Ukrainian Serviceman, Artist, and Activist David Chichkan

On August 18, 2025, a farewell ceremony was held at Kyiv’s Independence Square for artist, activist, and serviceman David Chichkan, who was heavily wounded on the frontlines and succumbed to his injuries on August 10, 2025, at the age of 39, leaving his wife and young son.

During the ceremony, attendees carried Ukrainian flags alongside anarchist banners, reflecting David’s political convictions. He was known for incorporating symbols of minorities into his art, dedicating works to the Roma, LGBTQ community, political prisoners, “outsiders, and underdogs.”

David’s decision to take up arms against Russian aggression was an extension of both his art and his anti-fascist and anti-imperial beliefs.

“He used to say there’s no better place for advocacy than the trenches, even though he could have stayed behind the lines,” his comrade Artek said during the farewell ceremony.

“He was a committed anarchist, convinced his place was alongside his people, sharing the heaviest burdens of war with them,” Artek added.

At the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, European institutions offered Chichkan to leave Ukraine and work for them. However, according to Chichkan’s friend, he refused, believing that “making art about the war while being outside Ukraine is low behavior.”

Oksana Briukhovetska, curator and artist, noted that David often depicted his friends in his paintings, placing them within utopian visions.

“His works reflect a vision of Ukrainian society defined by equality, freedom, and the absence of hierarchies, domination, or oppression,” Briukhovetska said.

David could never be at peace if only he was safe. He wanted everyone to be free and treated with respect, said Vitalii Dudin, an activist of the NGO “Social Movement” who has known the artist for over twenty years.

“His actions convinced me that he truly believed in egalitarian principles. He was where he was needed most, sharing every burden alongside his people,” Dudin recalled.

David’s life left a lasting mark on everyone he met, making him a prominent voice of Ukrainian resistance.

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