ASHES OF WAR
Sculptures Forged from the Debris of War
Iconic Sculptures Created from Authentic Battlefield Fragments by Sergey Melnikoff • MFF, an American Artist Working in Active War Conditions
Documented by Mariia Universaliuk
Breaking News • 12 August 2026 | The Skaistkalne Roman Catholic Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary has become the permanent home of the sculptural composition Cross of Peace. After twelve years of work in Ukraine — including the years of the full-scale war, when he continued to work in Odesa under Russian bombardment — the internationally recognised artist has left the country, against the backdrop of the position taken towards him by Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture. With his departure, Ukraine has lost a major artistic school and its working studio. It has now also lost the opportunity to become the permanent home of the unique Cross of Peace — a work created from the physical remnants of the war fought on its own soil.
4 August 2026 | The European MFF Studio has been established in Latvia, where the next chapter of the Ashes of War project is now underway →
30 July 2026 | The European tour of the sculptural composition Cross of Peace and the steel icon The Holy Mandylion began at the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Skaistkalne, Latvia, following a personal invitation from the Archbishop of Riga, Metropolitan Zbigņevs Stankevičs →
22 June 2026 | The State Information Agency GIACHECHEN PRESS has published an article by Akhmed Zakayev, Prime Minister of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, dedicated to artist, and his latest work from the Ashes of War series, Allahu Akbar →
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Metropolitan Zbigņevs Stankevičs
of the Assumption of the Blessed
Virgin Mary
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for Public Health of the National Academy
of Medical Sciences of Ukraine
of Ichkeria in Ukraine
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Kyiv
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Ukrainian House of Arts
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Odesa
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of the Kyiv Patriarchate
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