Years ago, an Australian photographer took a picture of her daughter that was very popular when it was published in a magazine, but today she found herself in trouble after an Italian artist copied the picture on a wall, using it to promote the Russian-Ukrainian war..

Last week, Italian street artist Ciro Sirullo, known as “Jorit”, announced that he had completed the painting on the wall of a bombed-out building in Mariupol, eastern Ukraine, depicting a girl with the colors of the flag of the “Donetsk People’s Republic”, which was announced by pro-Russian separatists..

In the painting, the girl appears with the colors of the flag, and behind her a bomb falls with the word “NATO” on it, in reference to NATO supporting Ukraine in the war, and amid accusations of plagiarism and spreading misleading information about the Kremlin, Jorit said in an interview with the Italian “Journal” radio station, that he “drew a lively little girl from Donbass, who spent her early years in Mariupol surrounded by war.”

And as soon as the painting spread on social media platforms, a number of users pointed out its similarity to a photo taken by Australian photographer Helen Whittle of her daughter, and it appeared on the cover of the Australian magazine “Capture” in 2018..

“I have learned that a photo I took in 2018 was used to create a mural in Mariupol, Ukraine,” Whittle said in a statement posted on social media.

While Jorit later admitted that he “came across the image by searching on Google for pictures of hair braids,” pointing out that he “repainted the shirt and the two braids, and how they matched the shape of the face of the girl he drew and with the light,” and added: “The mural used composition and elements from the image of this Australian girl, so what?”

In turn, Whittle responded to what happened: “It was painful and sad to see my image being copied and used in this way…it seems that he – referring to the Italian artist Jorit – finds inspiration by copying the images on the Internet,” and she continued: “I am sad and angry because the artist felt the need to copy someone else’s work without asking for permission, very sad for the way my image, the image of my daughter, was used,” confirming that she is consulting her lawyer.