Rymma Zyubina Reads the Diary of a Deceased Mariupol Resident at the Museum of Civilian Voices
“Find the diary and tell the whole world what happened in Mariupol.” These words were written in her diary by city resident Kateryna Savenko while she was in Mariupol, surrounded by russian troops. Years later, her entries were read aloud in Kyiv at the Museum of Civilian Voices founded by the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation. The diary was read to visitors by Ukrainian theater and film actress Rymma Zyubina.
The actress took Kateryna’s story very personally. In her performance, the entries from the diary, which the woman kept in two ordinary school notebooks, sounded particularly emotional, helping exhibition visitors feel the tragedy of Mariupol through the eyes of one of its residents.
“I always emphasize: everything must be documented, everything must be preserved on any possible medium, so that even 100 years from now, anyone anywhere on the planet can access this information. In fact, this is not only a record of Kateryna’s personal life and not only of her personal tragedy. I believe this is evidence for The Hague, for the trial of russian criminals,” says Rymma Zyubina.
The reading took place as part of a curator-led tour of the exhibition “Kateryna’s Diary. Mariupol. War 2022,” organized by the Museum of Civilian Voices founded by the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation. The exhibition is dedicated to the memory of Kateryna Savenko and tells the story of the lives of Mariupol residents during the city’s siege. At its heart are Kateryna’s original entries, which have become an important testimony to the tragedy of Mariupol.
Kateryna Savenko, 42, an employee of the Illich Iron & Steel Works in Mariupol, began keeping her diary on the first day of the full-scale invasion. In two school notebooks, she left 34 entries about life in Mariupol, the struggle to survive under shelling, and memories of the peaceful city. At the end of March 2022, her husband Vitalii was killed during russian shelling, while Kateryna herself sustained severe injuries and died on April 4. Before her death, she asked that her diary be preserved and that the truth about Mariupol be told to the world. Her family fulfilled her wish: the entries were found under the rubble and taken out of the occupied city.
For many of those present, Kateryna’s story felt very close to home. Visitors to the event admitted that it was impossible to listen to her memories without tears.
“I had heard about this diary because it is about every one of us. This is not only Kateryna’s story. You could put your own signature under every page. It was as if she were there beside us. What she went through, we went through too. And this memory must be preserved for people. I am very grateful to the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation for everything,” says Anatolii Moroz, a Mariupol resident.
“I am the wife of a captured officer who defended Mariupol at the Azovstal plant and is still in captivity. Our family went through almost the same thing as Kateryna Savenko. What we talked about today really resonated with me. Even on March 8, I remembered my own story. The Foundation is doing something very important. Such projects need to be supported because the whole world must know what the occupying country did to Mariupol,” says Tetiana, a visitor to the exhibition.
“Events like this help the world learn the truth about what happened in Mariupol. And they help us, the people of Mariupol, remember it and value life,” says Iryna Kalinina, a Mariupol resident.
In addition to the exhibition project, Kateryna Savenko’s diary became the basis for a separate printed edition. The “Kateryna Savenko’s Diary” can be read here: https://civilvoicesmuseum.org/projects/savenkodiary
The diary is also part of the archive of the Museum of Civilian Voices founded by the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation – the world’s largest collection of testimonies from civilians affected by russian aggression.
Today, the Museum’s collection contains more than 145,000 stories of civilians, including 12,500 stories from Mariupol residents. These are eyewitness accounts of events that have taken place from 2014 to the present day.
The exhibition “Kateryna’s Diary. Mariupol. War 2022” runs until August 31. Make sure to visit it at the Museum of the History of Kyiv. Admission is free.
