Saving others until his last breath: The story of volunteer Khalid Kharchenko has become part of the Museum of Civilian Voices founded by the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation
02.09.2026
“He wasn’t Ukrainian, but he loved Ukraine deeply.” This is how Maryna Kharchenko describes her husband, Khalid, who was killed during the occupation of Polohy in Zaporizhzhia region. From the very beginning of the full-scale war, he could not stand aside and became a volunteer from the first days. He collected and delivered food, water, clothing and equipment to checkpoints. He was killed while trying to help another person – russian soldiers shot at his car. The story of Khalid and his family has become part of the Museum of Civilian Voices founded by the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation.
“My husband was originally from Afghanistan. He was born in Kabul in 1978 into a military family. War also broke out there in 1979. When Khalid was six years old, his parents sent him away to study: first to Kazakhstan, and at the age of 12 he came to Ukraine, where he enrolled at a college in Kryvyi Rih,” says his wife, Maryna.
When russian tanks entered Polohy on March 3, 2022, Khalid continued travelling to the surrounding villages, saving local people from a humanitarian catastrophe. Fighting in the town centre lasted for more than eight hours, causing widespread destruction.
“We heard explosions and saw missiles flying overhead. Then we noticed military vehicles marked with the letter “Z” through the window,” the woman recalls.
Wanting to protect his family, Khalid planned to take his wife and children – Amina and Vaid – out of the village. However, the road was blocked by a huge column of russian military vehicles. The following day, he called his wife and promised to get in touch on the morning of 7 March. The few words Maryna heard over the phone were the last she ever heard from her husband.
“We had agreed that he would call at nine o’clock in the morning. He would go out to look for a signal, and we would look for one too. That was the only way we could stay in touch. But the call never came. On 7 March there was silence all day – no one called. At seven o’clock on the morning of 8 March, my sister’s husband arrived and told me that my husband had been shot dead…” says Maryna.
The day before, Khalid had been standing near a shop when an unfamiliar man asked him for a lift to his relatives. Khalid agreed. On the way, russian soldiers opened fire on the car. Both men were killed. With no medical assistance available, Khalid died from internal bleeding. A local resident brought his body back to the family in an ordinary wheelbarrow.
On 7 April, the family managed to escape the occupation with almost none of their belongings. Their home was left half-destroyed, and the life they had built remained behind in Polohy. Khalid was laid to rest there as well, in the occupied territory. For more than four years, Maryna has been unable to visit his grave, erect a memorial or bring flowers.
“I have only seen his grave in a photograph taken by my mother. It is critically important for me to preserve my husband’s memory and tell the truth. Khalid Mohamad Kharchenko did not hold Ukrainian citizenship, but in his heart he was a true Ukrainian and our hero. He constantly helped the military and always considered this land his home,” Maryna shares with deep sorrow.
Watch the story of the Kharchenko family here: https://bit.ly/4gSaaiS
The collection of the Museum of Civilian Voices founded by the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation now contains more than 145,000 stories about the war. It is the world’s largest collection of testimonies from civilians affected by russia’s war against Ukraine.
