CHARLOTTE — Iryna Zarutska’s image lives on in a mural painted on the side of a Charlotte business, but her memory goes far beyond Charlotte. There are tributes to Iryna on walls all across the country.
“The story of Iryna really touched me because I saw a lot of myself in her situation,” said Francois Karam, the co-owner of Opa The Phoenician restaurant in Providence, Rhode Island.
Karam told Channel 9’s Erika Jackson that Iryna’s journey to escape war-torn Ukraine resonated with him.
“We are Lebanese; we migrated here in 2002 and opened up Opa in 2003. It’s extremely scary coming to another country and starting your life; paying homage to her through a mural really made the most sense,” Karam said.
From the East Coast to the West Coast, you just might find a mural of Iryna in a place you wouldn’t expect.
“You can’t miss it; it’s a huge wall,” said Gear Duran with Futurescape Creations in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Duran weighed in on Iryna’s death and why he put up the mural.
“She escaped a warzone, was probably even safer where she came from,” Duran said. “If you’re traveling somewhere in the U.S., you should be safe, no matter what.”
Channel 9 asked Karam what he hopes people take away from the mural.
“Somebody who comes from, whether it’s Ukraine or wherever part of the world, we all want the same thing. We want to have the same opportunities that a lot of us in the country have,” Karam said.
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