Russian artist uses blood donated by Ukrainian fighters to send a message to Vladimir Putin

Exclusive: According to Andrei Molodkin blood and oil are at the heart of most human conflicts. Here he tells Andrew Buncombe about a special surprise he has for Putin’s May Day celebrations in Red Square

Andrei Molodkin would admit he has a thing for blood. He enjoys its colour, its deep sanguine tones. He appreciates too, its viscosity, how it can sometimes feel as sticky as crude oil. And he appears to enjoy the shocked reaction and clammy-handed squeamishness of audiences, when he makes use of real blood, in particular real human blood, in his art work.

Some have been censored, their labels removed from exhibitions, as though the curators know the trouble that can come with mixing blood with politics, or politics with art. Other times he has had to defend the validity of his work.

Despite that reaction – or perhaps partly because of it – he keeps on using it.