The development of visual practices in the urban environment in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries contributed to the emergence of muralism as one of the most influential phenomena of contemporary urban culture. Mural art has ceased to be merely an artistic intervention and has become a carrier of sociocultural meanings, a mechanism of urban communication, an instrument for shaping collective memory, and a marker of identity. In the Ukrainian context, the relevance of studying muralism is determined by the intensive transformations of the urban environment after 1991, the spread of street art in the 2000s and 2010s, and the emergence of new forms of civic, patriotic, and memorial muralism during the RussoUkrainian War of 2014–2025. Despite the development of individual theoretical approaches to the study of wall art, there remains a lack of comprehensive studies devoted to the interaction of murals with urban space, sociocultural context, and processes of collective memory. The study employs art-historical, cultural-studies, urban-studies, and communication approaches, which made it possible to examine the mural simultaneously as an artwork, a component of the urban landscape, and an instrument of social interaction. The analysis of the source base revealed a lack of systematic scholarly works on the Ukrainian mural, particularly with regard to its sociocultural functions. It is demonstrated that the Ukrainian mural developed under the influence of global trends 7 while preserving its local specificity and national symbolism. Its historical origins lie in the traditions of monumental wall painting, including Soviet mural painting and mosaics, the graffiti culture of the 1990s, early street art of the 2000s, and the festival movement of the early twenty-first century. In the 2010s, Ukrainian mural art evolved from a predominantly decorative practice into a conceptually rich form of public art. Its stylistic transformation — from realistic illustrative compositions to symbolic, metaphorical, and socially engaged imagery — was accompanied by a deepening of the communicative dimension of wall art. Murals increasingly function as “visual statements” on socially significant issues: they serve as social commentary, political manifestos, interpretations of historical events, and instruments for constructing new urban narratives. In the context of the Russo-Ukrainian War of 2014–2025, wall-based artworks became an integral part of Ukraine’s memorial and cultural landscape and serve as “people’s memorials” — instruments of collective memory, civic mobilisation, and cultural resilience. The dissertation analyses thematic groups of “wartime” murals: heroic portraits, memorial murals, allegorical images of resistance, and works expressing support for the civilian population. These works construct a new narrative of urban memory by reflecting the experience of trauma while simultaneously consolidating the community. The study of the mechanisms through which murals interact with the urban environment and their audience demonstrates that wall art transforms urban space not only visually but also socially. Murals influence the perception of places, create new semantics of locations, and form distinctive “visual brands” of urban districts. Participatory practices play an important role: when a community becomes involved in the creation or discussion of a mural, the wall painting turns into an interactive element of urban life, bringing together art, social communication, and civic participation. Ukrainian mural art has become integrated into the global cultural space through international festivals, the participation of foreign artists, and digital media platforms. The global circulation of images on the Internet contributes to the formation of a positive international image of Ukraine, while also raising issues of copyright and au8 thenticity in the digital age. Ukrainian artists demonstrate the capacity to integrate global artistic practices while preserving their own national and cultural code. The systematisation of the material made it possible to define the multidimensional character of the sociocultural functions of murals. It is shown that wall paintings perform several functions simultaneously: communicative, by creating an open space for public dialogue; identity-forming, by producing local and national markers of identity; memorial, by commemorating events and heroes and recording collective experiences; integrative, by consolidating residents and fostering interaction within the community; and transcultural, by incorporating Ukrainian space into global artistic communication. The relative significance of each function depends on the specific sociopolitical context.
