KYIV, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Ukrainian artist Iryna Prots watches the Winter Olympics in the rare moments she has power at home, but the creator of skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych's banned helmet depicting Ukraine's war dead feels detached from the Games.
"Honestly, the entire Olympics somehow seem surreal to me," said the 52-year-old, speaking at her apartment in Kyiv. "Because the Olympics were always about peace ... when the entire world united."
Months of Russian air strikes have battered the Ukrainian capital's energy grid and plunged its residents into cold and darkness. Along the more than 1,200 km (745 mile) frontline, Russian forces have ground out slow gains in an attritional war heading towards its fifth year.
The helmet by Prots - featuring portraits of two dozen Ukrainian athletes killed in Russia's war - is at the centre of a standoff between Heraskevych and the International Olympic Committee, which pleaded with him on Wednesday to compete without it.
The IOC banned the helmet on Tuesday, saying it violated rules on political statements at the Games, a ruling that drew widespread anger from Ukrainians.
Heraskevych, whose friends are among the dead, has refused to comply, setting him up for potential disqualification when the competition starts on Thursday. The 27-year-old placed fourth in the World Championships last year.
Asked by Reuters on Wednesday if it was his helmet or nothing, he said: "Yes."
DESIGN SHOWS REALITY OF WAR, ARTIST SAYS
Prots said Heraskevych, whom she has known since he was a child, had asked her to decorate his helmet. She described her design as "a challenge" aimed at confronting the world with the reality of war.
Russia's invasion has killed tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops and civilians, ravaged swaths of land and left countless psychological scars. Kyiv, meanwhile, is under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump's administration to agree a peace deal quickly.
"The world simply doesn't want to see the truth that is happening here," said Prots. "They don't understand why we haven't capitulated, why we aren't surrendering."
UKRAINIANS SUPPORT HERASKEVYCH
Prots, whose birthday falls on the February 24 anniversary of Moscow's invasion, describes each athlete depicted on Heraskevych's helmet as a lost asset for the war-torn country.
"Each pair of eyes ... could be seeing this world right now, that could be fighting for their own medals, who could be standing on their own pedestals," she said.
Moscow, whose athletes have been barred from competing at the Olympics under the national flag, says sport should remain separate from international conflicts.
But Heraskevych has received an outpouring of support from Ukrainians including President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Kyiv resident Svitlana Shevchenko, 37, described Heraskevych as a symbol of how Ukrainians are striving for achievement in the midst of suffering.
"We want to live, we want to reach new heights, and we want everyone to know about this."
(Additional reporting by Yurii Kovalenko and Karolos Grohmann; Writing by Dan Peleschuk; Editing by Daniel Flynn and Alison Williams)
