“I’m Alive and Enjoying Life”: The Story of Hanna Karablinska from Mariupol Has Become Part of the Museum of Civilian Voices founded by the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation

 During three and a half months in russian captivity, Hanna Karablinska, a pastry chef from Mariupol, endured beatings and hunger and nearly lost her eyesight. Around 40 people were held in a cell designed for six. But the hardest thing for her was not knowing how her loved ones were doing or whether they had managed to leave the besieged city in time. Hanna shared her story with the Museum of Civilian Voices founded by the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation.

Before the full-scale war, Hanna baked wedding cakes and pastries. When the fighting began, she started working in a field kitchen and helping the military at the Illich Iron and Steel Works. In March 2022, she was taken prisoner by the russians. She was first held in Olenivka and was then transferred to Taganrog. Captivity severely damaged her health: systematic blows to the head caused her eyesight to deteriorate significantly. 

“In our cell, we could hear the guys being beaten and their bones cracking. It was just... We cried. They treated us very cruelly: if you stood in the wrong place or looked in the wrong direction. I had a large hematoma on my head because I was hit, fell, and struck my head against the wall. I had bruises on my face. They dragged me by my hair, and it stopped growing. They gave us some kind of cabbage soup and 100 grams of bread a day. They brought us a few grains – sometimes we were given just 16 grains for the entire day,” she says.

She had to hide the fact that she had a husband and a daughter from the occupiers because they also served in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Hanna lied and said she was not in contact with her loved ones. As for her younger son, she genuinely did not know what had happened to him. When intense shelling began in the city, the family was forced to separate: Hanna was at work and then in captivity, while her son stayed with his grandmother. They were reunited only after Hanna was released from russian captivity.

At first, life after captivity was very difficult for Hanna. After returning, she would startle at sounds and hide whenever she heard aircraft.

“Psychologically, it was very difficult to recover. When I was in the hospital, I was terribly afraid of everything – every sound frightened me. Sometimes I would sit under the table; other times, I would go and lock myself in a room. I was very afraid of the sound of aircraft, even though I knew they were ours,” Hanna says.

Receiving social housing through the “YaMariupol” project became a real lifeline for her and her family. Hanna now lives in Chernivtsi, in comfortable conditions alongside fellow Mariupol residents. After everything she has been through, she is gradually returning to her craft: baking pies and cakes.

“The Rinat Akhmetov Foundation and ‘YaMariupol’ have done a great job. When I walked in, everything was new, everything worked. It was cosy and comfortable. And I feel very much at ease here because everyone feels like one of our own. Recently, everyone got together for tea. I baked them a big apricot pie because it turned out that Mariupol reminds everyone of apricots. So here I am, living and enjoying life. I don’t need anything else. My children are alive and well,” she says with a smile.

Watch Hanna Karablinska’s story here: https://bit.ly/4zKmEkm

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