A world-renowned Suffolk sculptor, who crafted a likeness of Captain Tom Moore, has now turned his attention to the Ukrainian president.

Stephen Hicklin, who has a studio in Saxmundham High Street, has been inspired to create the life-size head and neck sculpture by Volodymyr Zelensky’s heroism in helping to protect his country against the Russian invasion.

He will be displaying his work as part of a Society of Portrait Sculptors' exhibition at Chelsea Barracks in London from August 8 to September 2.

He said he was using the sculpture as an opportunity to express his own views about the situation and wanted to convey an "empathetic" response.

“The war is a big issue in terms of its impact on everybody and I suppose, how do you respond to war? My feeling is that I had to have a conversation with the man.

“In a way, the portrait reflects my personal response to the conflict with a man protecting his country,” Mr Hicklin said.

In April 2021, Mr Hicklin, who trained at the Central School of Art and Design in London, unveiled his sculpture of Captain Tom, who became famous for his fundraising exploits for the NHS by walking 100 laps of his Bedfordshire garden before his 100th birthday.

The sculptor’s latest endeavour has taken him about a month to complete and will be included in the first non-virtual exhibition since before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Previously, he has created sculptures in Chelmsford and outside Maidstone Crown Court, along with a portrait of civil engineer and railway pioneer George Stephenson in Chesterfield, where he is buried.