Popasna Museum of Local Lore named ater Semen Ioffe, Luhansk Region
The museum director Yana Proskurova wrote this letter to the Museum Crisis Center in May 2022. Now Popasna is temporarily occupied, but the museum staff still needs help.
“The staff of the Semen Iofe Popasna Museum of Local Lore is very grateful to the entire team of the Museum Crisis Center for their financial assistance. Since March 3 (2022), our museum has not been able to work because of the outbreak of russia's full-scale war against Ukraine. Our city was shelled very massively, with all heavy weapons, even phosphorus bombs were used. At first, the employees hid in the basements of their houses, but then the houses were destroyed and we had to evacuate naked and barefoot, taking only our children and documents. Thanks to the above financial assistance, we were able to leave and buy some food and medicine.
Today, all the employees are scattered in different parts of our dear Ukraine and have no financial sources of support, we are not paid salaries because the fighting continues. Our town of Popasna has been almost destroyed by therussian occupiers. I personally, as a human being, have absolutely no strength to endure all the misfortunes that have happened recently: On March 6, a hailstorm hit my house, but my daughter and I survived; my grandmother died after the evacuation (her heart gave out); on April 23, my husband was killed in a battle in the Volnovakha area of Donetsk region; he had served in the Ukrainian Armed Forces since 2015. So, I lost my only income (my husband's salary) and now I don't know how to pay the rent, how to buy food and medicine for my daughter and mother (they are disabled with severe diabetes). My coworkers have also lost everything - their homes, their families, and the opportunity to earn a living.
We are very grateful to the entire team of the Museum Crisis Center, especially Olha Honchar and Olesya Milovanova, for taking care of our lives and keeping us alive.
Our team firmly believes in the victory of Ukraine and hopes to return to our jobs and our favorite museum. If you have the opportunity, please help our team survive in this difficult time, and for this we need financial assistance."
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.