The cartoon shows the Grim Reaper looming over the shattered remains of Mariupol with an Oscar statue positioned in the foreground rubble. It responds to the March 2024 Academy Award win for the documentary 20 Days in Mariupol. The film records the early weeks of the Russian siege of the Ukrainian port city. The image places the award amid collapsed buildings and fires to contrast recognition with continued destruction. Publication occurred days after the Oscars ceremony. The visual links the prize to the human cost documented in the footage.
A line of burning candles of varying heights stands against a dark, smoky background above a pale lower field. The image responds to reports of civilian deaths and alleged atrocities in Ukrainian cities including Bucha, Borodyanka and Mariupol during the Russian invasion that began in February 2022. By April 2022, international attention had focused on mass graves and civilian casualties uncovered after Russian forces withdrew from areas near Kyiv. The candles evoke traditional memorials for the dead while the uneven heights and melting wax suggest the scale and ongoing nature of the losses. No text appears on the candles themselves.
The cartoon shows Russian President Vladimir Putin as a massive figure soaring toward a panicked crowd of civilians fleeing a damaged cityscape. Speech bubbles have him saying he does not target civilians, followed by the clarification that only men, women and children are hit. Published March 21, 2022, the image responds to Russian missile and artillery strikes on Ukrainian population centers including Mariupol during the early weeks of the full-scale invasion.
