An exceptionally rare publication has been added to the War Museum’s collection: On the Wings of Hope, in the Name of Salvation, a memoir of the blockade of Mariupol based on the diary entries of nurse Nadiia Ved.
Nadiia wrote the memoir after she, her husband Oleksii, and their younger daughter Yelyzaveta managed to escape war-torn and starving Mariupol, travelling through Donetsk and russia before reaching Finland. She dedicated the book to Mariupol City Hospital № 1, where she had worked before going on maternity leave and where she spent more than a dozen turbulent days seeking shelter from russian bombardment.
In June 2023, the book was published by the Kyiv-based publishing house MASTER KNYH LLC in a print run of just ten (!) copies. It is illustrated with original photographs taken in Mariupol by Oleksii and Nadiia in the spring of 2022. Nadiia and her younger daughter now live in Finland, where she is actively involved in volunteering in support of Ukraine and assists displaced people from Mariupol. Her elder daughter, Dariia, who also managed to escape Mariupol with her future husband and reach Ukrainian-controlled territory, lives in Kryvyi Rih.
The War Museum extends its sincere gratitude to Ms Nadiia Ved for donating the book. This publication will become another valuable documentary source for the Museum’s research and exhibition work.
