Lusuchansk Museum of Local Lore , Luhansk Region
The museum workers of the Lysychansk City Museum of Local Lore wrote a text about their realities in May 2022, at a time when the city was constantly under shelling. Now Lysychansk is under Russian occupation, and the Museum Crisis Center continues to provide assistance to the museum staff. In return, they share their stories with us:
"The staff of the Lysychansk City Museum of Local Lore has not been able to work since March because of the outbreak of russia's full-scale war against Ukraine. Our city began to be shelled. Some employees had to live in the basement of the museum, some in the basements of their homes. Every day life in the city was becoming impossible. From the very beginning, there was no water supply, and they tried to repair the electricity and gas after the shelling. Now there are no communications in the city. The shelling does not stop. The governor of the region, Sergey Gaidai, is calling on residents to evacuate in order not to interfere with our soldiers' efforts to liberate the city. Many employees evacuated. Thanks to financial assistance from the Museum Crisis Center, they are able to pay for housing, buy some food and medicine.
As of now, some employees have stayed in the city and are taking care of the museum. The employees have no financial sources of subsistence, salaries are not paid because the fighting continues. Our city of Lysychansk is being destroyed by the russian occupiers. The museum employee's house was damaged. Currently, there is no connection in the city, so it is unknown who else will be left without a home.
We are very grateful to the entire team of Museum workers, especially Olga Gonchar and Olesya Milovanova, for taking care of our lives and living conditions. Our team firmly believes in Ukraine's victory and hopes to return to our jobs and our beloved museum as soon as possible. If you can, please help our team survive in this difficult time, and for this we need financial support."
PS. We publish the stories of our fellow museum workers with their permission, and only when they believe that there is no threat to their lives and the lives of their loved ones.