As a result of a Russian missile hit in Sumy, graphic artist Mykola Bondarenko’s works were destroyed

31 July 2023

During the missile attack on Sumy on July 29, the unique works of the Ukrainian graphic artist Mykola Bondarenko were destroyed. The rocket hit the premises of one of the city’s educational institutions and destroyed it, killing two people and injuring 20 others. Dmytro Zhyvytskyi, former head of the Sumy Regional State Administration, announced this.

“The missile with which the Russians killed not only people but also “Human Memory,” Zhyvytskyi wrote on Facebook. – The missile hit right where the unique works of the great Ukrainian graphic artist, our contemporary, Holodomor researcher Mykola Bondarenko, were exhibited, and donated by the author himself to this educational institution. The name of the exhibition is “Ukraine – 1933: Cookbook. Human Memory.”

He reminded that the Centre for Famine Research was located in this educational institution, where Bondarenko’s works were kept.

Let us remind you that the Ukrainian graphic artist Mykola Bondarenko suddenly passed away on June 3 this year. His works include over a hundred works on the Holodomor topic, some of which became the basis for the impressive study “Ukraine – 1933: a cookbook. Human memory.” In parallel with his work, the artist thoroughly engaged in research work, and he began recording the testimonies of his fellow villagers about the Holodomor back in Soviet times at the end of the 1980s.

In his book “Ukraine – 1933: a cook book. Human Memory”, published based on the results of these studies and illustrated with his engravings, Volodymyr Bondarenko collected terrible recipes for dishes from 1932-1933. The exhibition of his impressive works on the Holodomor theme visited many countries of the world. Also, one of the engravings became the cover of researcher Anne Applebaum’s book “The Red Famine. Stalin’s war against Ukraine”.