"I have lost everything, but I would give it all again to keep our soldiers alive": a story from Bakhmut in the Museum "Voices of the Peaceful" of Rinat Akhmetov Foundation

Bakhmut. Late spring 2022. Shells are landing more and more often on the street where Galina lives. The worst was yet to come: the shelling during which her dog saved her, the evacuation from the burning city... and the loss of everything that life before the war consisted of. Galina entrusted her story to the Voices of the Peaceful Museum of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation.

That day she was working in the yard. She heard her dog scratching, which had been running down the street before. Galina went to open the gate and heard an explosion. These few meters were crucial for the woman's life.

"When I woke up, I was covered in stones and dust from my house. I remember that the only thing I wanted was to wash myself. To wash away the dust, the bitterness, the state," Halyna recalls.

A rocket fired by the Russian military at a residential area damaged many houses... Halyna and her husband decided to evacuate. Driving through the city she hadn't visited in months, she was shocked. Bakhmut had become scary, black, and battered, although after each shelling people tried to clean the roads and collect glass...

"I never thought I would see Bakhmut again. That's why I have nothing left - no documents for my house, no photos of my parents. But if they put a scale in front of me and two bowls, I would give my house and apartments to keep our boys alive," Halyna admits.

Every story about the war is important. To preserve the memory for a better future, tell your story on the Voices of the Peaceful Museum's portal or by calling the toll-free hotline 0 (800) 509 001.