Ukrainian family living with West Suffolk MP Matt Hancock hold NFT art sale to raise funds for their home country

A Ukrainian family - who were taken in by West Suffolk MP Matt Hancock after fleeing the war-torn country - are holding a sale of NFT artwork.

Iryna Korobkina and her artist husband Oleg Mischenko will sell a 15-piece NFT collection, called ‘From Ukraine, With Love’, in a bid to raise money for CARE International UK’s: Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal, as well as Ukrainian refugees living in the UK amid Putin’s war.

The Ukrainian family of seven are living with the former health secretary, at his home on the outskirts of Newmarket, after he took them in under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, last year.

Hancock has been helping promote the sale on social media channels.

Iryna arrived in April last year with her husband making the move in December.

At first he had joined the army, but was not sent to fight due to health reasons.

The NFTs are of works painted by Oleg before the war and will be sold at The NFT Gallery, on Dover Street, in London’s Mayfair on February 27.

Mr Mischenko studied at the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architectural Landscape Painting and is a member of the National Union of Artists in Ukraine.

Many of Mr Mischenko’s works had been on display in Odesa, the port city in the south of the country before the war started, but last year they were evacuated and shipped to the safety of West Suffolk.

Iryna Korobkina, who has curated the collection, said: “My husband’s paintings and this NFT collection gives my family and my country hope. Each piece depicts nature in our wonderful Ukraine. It was a beautiful, flourishing, peaceful country until Putin waged this illegal and barbaric war.”

“My husband has captured Ukraine’s beauty. Tragically some of these places are now unrecognisable following the war."

Husband Oleg said: “Selling off my works as part of this NFT collection is a way of serving my country and its people. It’s also my way of defending our cultural values, our philosophy, and our European way of life."

Suffolk is now home to more than 600 Ukrainian refugees, with Mr Hancock saying that a community had “built up in rural Suffolk”.

He said: “I’m incredibly proud of Iryna and Oleg, and I am honoured to support the family with their charity NFT collection.

“Their spirit and bravery in the face of adversity is inspiring and I urge people to help in any way they can. Oleg is an incredibly talented artist and his ‘From Ukraine, With Love’ collection is truly stunning.”

CARE International UK’s Chief Executive Officer, Eamon Cassidy, said: “We are delighted that Iryna and Oleg have chosen to donate the proceeds of this sale to CARE’s Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.

An NFT is a digital asset that exists completely in the digital universe. It can be any type of digital file: an artwork, an article, music or meme.

NFT stands for Non Fungible Token.

The art collection can be viewed here