Survivor of a KAB strike: the story of Oleksandra Linichenko from the Kharkiv region has become part of the Museum of Civilian Voices founded by the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation
09.09.2026
The fatal KAB strike occurred whilst Oleksandra Linichenko was waiting for a train near a local school after celebrating her birthday. The blast claimed the lives of three young men standing nearby in a matter of seconds. Oleksandra and her friend Yulia suffered serious injuries. She shared her story of survival and her fight to recover with the Museum of Civilian Voices founded by the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation.
“After the explosion, I asked: “What’s happened to me?” The guys who were standing nearby, Serhii and Misha, were already lying there, pale as a sheet. Yulia, my friend, said: “I’ll save you!” She practically crawled all the way to the station to call for help. If it hadn’t been for Yulia, I would have bled to death right there,” says Oleksandra.
After the explosion, she was taken to hospital. On the way, the military tried to stop the bleeding. Oleksandra remembers how, on the way, one of the defenders urged her not to fall asleep and to stay conscious. In hospital, she underwent more than 11 complex surgeries. The doctors’ diagnosis was grim: a severed sciatic nerve, damage to her liver and lungs, and implants in her arm and leg. The most terrifying ordeal was the constant phantom pain.
“It’s impossible to describe. They tried every injection imaginable, every treatment imaginable – nothing helped. It’s in my head, and it feels like it’s burning, and my leg itches – all at the same time. It seemed to me that when my leg was torn open, I didn’t feel pain like this, not even when they were stitching it up. But this phantom pain – it’s very frightening and very painful,” explains the woman.
During her treatment, Oleksandra even felt that she would never be able to get out of her wheelchair again. But her persistence paid off. She gradually began to move again. Recently, the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation helped her with her treatment. This has significantly improved her condition.
“I’d like to sincerely thank the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation for their help and for providing me with assistance with the reconstruction of my arm. I wouldn’t have been able to afford it myself,” she says.
Oleksandra’s main motivation for not giving up is also her four-year-old daughter Vlada, who was born ten days before the full-scale invasion began. It is her little daughter who, every day, encourages her mum to take steps despite the pain, kisses her bandaged hands and brings her back to life.
Watch Oleksandra Linichenko’s story here: https://bit.ly/3UE25Xw
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.
