Artist behind Ukrainian Olympic helmet calls his tribute 'great heroism' after he's banned скачать в хорошем качестве

Artist behind Ukrainian Olympic helmet calls his tribute 'great heroism' after he's banned

(12 Feb 2026) RESTRICTION SUMMARY: ASSOCIATED PRESS Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy - 10 February 2026 ++NIGHT SHOTS++ 1. Close of skeleton slider Vladyslav Heraskevych turning helmet ASSOCIATED PRESS Kyiv, Ukraine - 12 February 2026 2. SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Iryna Prots, artist: ++COVERED++ “To be honest, when the photographs first came into my hands, it was pain — pain for our country, for the fact that we lost Olympic champions and, in essence, the coaches who raised this generation of Olympic champions." ASSOCIATED PRESS Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy - 10 February 2026 3. STILL of Heraskevych during training run at Milano Cortina, PHOTO ID: 26040357916489 4. STILL of Heraskevych during training run at Milano Cortina, PHOTO ID: 26041482877382 5. STILL of Heraskevych during training run at Milano Cortina, PHOTO ID: 26041492508610 ASSOCIATED PRESS Kyiv, Ukraine - 12 February 2026 6. SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Iryna Prots, artist: ++PARTIALLY COVERED++ “Standing up for his truth is a great act of heroism for me. He could have refused, he could have said, ‘Fine, I’ll wear another helmet and fight for a medal'. He didn’t do that. To stand up for his truth — that is great heroism.” ASSOCIATED PRESS Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy - 10 February 2026 ++NIGHT SHOTS++ 7. Various pan ups from skeleton slider Vladyslav Heraskevych's helmet to face 8. Tight of helmet 9. Various pan ups from skeleton slider Vladyslav Heraskevych's helmet to face ASSOCIATED PRESS Kyiv, Ukraine - 12 February 2026 10. SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Iryna Prots, artist: ++PARTIALLY COVERED++ “I felt anger. Anger because the saddest thing is that people don’t want to see the truth — the truth we live with here every day. The Olympics have always been about peace. The Olympics were a time when all fighting stopped, when athletes stepped into the arena to compete for their Olympic medals. Today, it’s hard for me to understand how there is celebration — anthems playing, people dancing and singing — while we live here under air raid sirens and bombs. And no one pays attention to it.” ASSOCIATED PRESS Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy - 10 February 2026 11. STILL of Ukraine's Vladyslav Heraskevych arriving at the finish during a men's skeleton training session, PHOTO ID 26043336802377 12. STILL of Ukraine's Vladyslav Heraskevych arriving at the finish during a men's skeleton training session, PHOTO ID 26043327084137 13. STILL of Ukraine's Vladyslav Heraskevych arriving at the finish during a men's skeleton training session, PHOTO ID 26042426579201 14. Vladyslav Heraskevych and helmet ++NIGHT SHOT++ STORYLINE: The artist who painted a controversial helmet that got Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych banned from the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics said his refusal to stop wearing the helmet was “a great act of heroism.” Artist Iryna Prots meticulously painted upon Heraskevych's helmet portraits of over 20 Ukrainian athletes and coaches killed since Russia's military operation in 2022. The helmet drew international attention after the International Olympic Committee said it violated rules banning political messages. Heraskevych's insistence on wearing it anyway got him barred. “He could have refused, he could have said, ‘Fine, I’ll wear another helmet and fight for a medal,’" Prots, 52, told The Associated Press inside her home in Kyiv. "He didn’t do that. To stand up for his truth — that is great heroism.” Heraskevych came up with the idea for the helmet design and his father, a longtime friend of Prots, asked her to paint it. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...