Rinat Akhmetov Foundation Helps Donetsk Region Resident Injured in a KAB Strike

64-year-old Olena Kovalenko survived a direct hit by a KAB-250 guided bomb on her house in Sloviansk. The woman was buried under concrete debris and suffered numerous injuries and fractures. Recently, Olena received assistance from the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation to undergo the necessary surgical treatment. She also shared her story of survival with the Museum of Civilian Voices founded by the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation.

“I am very grateful to the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation for the assistance they provided and for the opportunity to have a good, high-quality operation. It was vital for me. Without these plates, I would not have been able to recover as quickly as I have,” Olena says.

The woman explains that the fact that she survived is a miracle in itself. Just before the strike, she was right at the site of the strike, picking strawberries in her garden. But because of the heat, she decided to go inside the house and rest for a while. That was when the explosion occurred — the garden beds where Olena had been working just minutes earlier were completely burned out. The woman immediately lost consciousness after the explosion. She regained consciousness under the rubble and immediately began calling for help.

“When I came to, I was completely buried under concrete. There was concrete in my mouth, concrete in my ears. I thought: I had to somehow call someone, but I couldn't speak. Then it turned out that my teeth had also been knocked out. Then I heard footsteps. Someone was walking on the concrete and calling out, ‘Is anyone here? Is anyone here?’ It was the State Emergency Service rescuers and the police,” the woman recalls.

For the first two months after the operation, Olena could barely move independently: because of fractures to her leg and arm, she had nothing to support herself with. But she is gradually recovering. The woman now lives in Cherkasy. Her house in Sloviansk was completely destroyed, and she has nowhere to return to. But she still dreams of returning to her beloved city one day.

Her entire life was spent in Sloviansk. Her grandmothers, great-grandmothers, grandfather and mother lived here. Before the full-scale war, the woman worked as an accountant, was building her own house and enjoyed life in her hometown with its lakes, rivers and chalk mountains.

“There is no house. The city has already been almost completely destroyed. But if the war ends and Ukraine is still there, I would go home right now,” Olena says.

Watch Olena Kovalenko’s story here: https://bit.ly/4ibJ0UH

The Museum of Civilian Voices founded by the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation has already collected more than 145,000 stories about the war. It is the world’s largest archive of testimonies from civilians in Ukraine who have suffered from russian aggression.