The paint fumes hang thick in the air on a narrow street in an industrial zone on the periphery of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv.
Behind a gate, five men intently paint vehicles in front of a nondescript building. They are not doing touch-ups but covering them in a unique camouflage pattern for Ukraine’s military, using Sabir Mamadov’s design.
Mr. Mamadov, 32, is an artist who started painting graffiti when he was 11. For the past 16 months, he has been using his skills to help Ukraine’s war effort.
Days before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, a friend asked him to camouflage a white van for Ukrainian special forces. That was the first time Mr. Mamadov had painted a vehicle.
“Since that day, we have been painting cars every day,” he said.
In the early weeks of the invasion, Mr. Mamadov said, he had no time off for 80 days straight. When that led to burn out, he and the other painters started taking breaks.
“In the first days, we could hear artillery shells flying over us, but we had nowhere to hide, and we had to keep working despite the danger,” he said on a recent afternoon.
There are six people involved in the effort through a charity called the Civil Resistance and Assistance Foundation. They have painted more than 2,000 vehicles, Mr. Mamadov said.
That afternoon there were S.U.V.s, armored vehicles and a buggy on hand. A captured Russian tank was getting a new paint job to cover up the “Z” — a symbol of support for Moscow’s invasion — that was emblazoned on it, so that Ukrainian troops could use the vehicle on the front lines.
The vehicles are provided by volunteers or the military, and the paint is donated. The painters are not typically paid for their work, which goes beyond vehicles. Inside the nondescript building are guns, a microwave and a small fridge, all of which have the same distinct camouflage.
Painting was particularly challenging in the winter, Mr. Mamadov said, when Russian attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure caused regular blackouts.
“We had to find alternative ways to stay warm and keep working,” he said.
The organization is in close contact with the military about specifications. Weapons require a special paint that doesn’t smoke or burn, Mr. Mamadov said, shortly before handing over a newly camouflaged rifle to a man who had come to collect it. Vehicle camouflage changes based on the battlefield landscape and the season, and the current colors are chosen to work in forests.
“In autumn, we created a camouflage resembling an autumn fox, with more reddish and brownish tones,” he said. Mr. Mamadov pointed to a vehicle down the street that he said was a rarity. It was awaiting a change from fall to summer colors, something most vehicles don’t last long enough on the battlefield to need.
Mr. Mamadov has given up personal projects like murals for the time being. He said he doesn’t have the desire, or the time.
“There’s a war going on, and the guys are out there fighting while I’m here painting something on a wall with a spray can?” he said. “It feels so childish to me.”
Cassandra Vinograd contributed reporting.