"I wish I could look into the eyes of the person who launched those missiles": the story of Valeriia Kariachka and her seriously wounded daughter Mariiia becomes part of the Museum of Civilian Voices founded by the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation

Five-year-old Mariiia survived a russian attack. However, the child still does not understand why she can no longer see her grandmother or where her little leg has gone. Because of autism, the girl is unable to put her pain and despair into words. Her mother, Valeriia Kariachka, shared her daughter's story with the Museum of Civilian Voices founded by the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation.

In November 2025, a russian Iskander missile struck an ordinary village shop in the Dnipropetrovsk region, where Mariiia had been choosing biscuits with her grandmother. Valeriia learned about the attack from her older son, who had been at home. Together with her husband, they immediately ran to the site of the strike.

"It was simply horrific. My husband and I understood everything at once. We just looked at each other and started crying... I wish I could look into the eyes of the person who pressed that button and launched those missiles and 'shaheds'. I want them to be punished. I want them to feel the same pain," the woman says.

Sixty-five-year-old Tamara Ivanivna died from her injuries in the ambulance. The girl survived but lost part of her leg. Throughout Mariiia's stay in hospital, her relatives remained by her side because she requires constant assistance with daily care.

Valeriia says the trauma has significantly worsened the manifestations of her daughter's autism. She has lost many of the skills she had previously acquired, making rehabilitation much more difficult. The girl is struggling to get used to her prosthetic leg and experiences phantom pain that she cannot explain in words.

"The prosthesis is very difficult for her. Even putting it on is hard. Without it, she hops on one leg or moves around on her knees. But that hurts a lot. And it hurts me because I can't help her psychologically. She is going through all of this on her own," says Valeriia.

The little girl is also still unable to comprehend the loss of her grandmother. Every day, she walks from room to room looking for her, searching with her eyes and calling for her.

"Mariiia may not speak, but she goes into her grandmother's room and looks around... Then she goes into the kitchen and looks there too. She is searching. She is waiting..." her mother explains.

Even before the full-scale war, the family fought every day to help their daughter master the most basic skills. The tragedy has made that struggle many times harder. Parenting under such circumstances is an enormous daily challenge, but successful rehabilitation gives the family hope and the strength to keep going, Valeriia says.

Watch the story of Valeriia and her daughter Mariiia here: https://bit.ly/4eYoBRq

The collection of the Museum of Civilian Voices founded by the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation already numbers more than 145,000 stories about the war. This is the largest collection in the world of testimonies from civilians affected by russia’s war against Ukraine.