Powerful Ukrainian artwork representing lost lives of children unveiled in Shrewsbury

Ukrainian artist and refugee Svitlana Dzedzei, who is currently living in Cleobury Mortimer, has worked to bring the piece to the county.

The piece includes 500 handmade 'angels', representing children who have lost their lives during the conflict.

The angels have been suspended from the balustrades outside St Chads Church in Shrewsbury and were unveiled in a ceremony on Saturday by Shrewsbury's mayor, Elisabeth Roberts.

The piece has been made by Mrs Dzedzei, originally from Lviv, in collaboration with Ukrainian mothers in Europe who have also fled their homeland.

It has already been displayed in Slovakia and Cyprus.

The angels, crafted in the colours of the Ukrainian flag, have been arranged on netting to enable their suspension in the air.

Mrs Dzedzei said: "Our goal is to show people all over the world how cruel and senseless war is - and that each of us has the right to live in peace, without evil and violence, and calmly raise our children, putting in their hearts only goodness, light and respect for of human life, love for people and the world in which they live."

The artwork first appeared in Shropshire, suspended from trees at the Castle Gardens in Ludlow before moving to St Laurence's Church in the town.

Following that, it moved to St Mary's Church in Cleobury Mortimer before arriving in Shrewsbury. The work is next set to visit Germany.