Our wars they destroy everything and that was what frightened Anatoly Haritonov, a ucraniano that until before the Russian invasion began, he worked as a security guard at the Ivankiv Museum of History and Local Customs.
His greatest concern (and it was not for less) is that 14 works by this Ukrainian painter, one of the most important, which even Pablo Picasso y Marc Chagall came to praise her, they will be reduced to ashes.
Faced with the imminent attack, Haritonov decided to store the works in a wooden box that was traditionally used to store wheat, but this did not leave him completely calm, since he knew that the measure was not enough to prevent its destruction.
A few hours later, his greatest fear came true: a shell destroyed part of the museum and set the rest on fire.
Thanks to the fact that he lives right in front of the enclosure, Haritonov was able to take action almost immediately and as soon as it was possible he entered it to take out, with the help of other neighbors, the beautiful and famous paintings by Primachenko.
According to what Haritonov told the Spanish newspaper El País, It didn't take him more than 15 minutes to maneuver and remove the works of art since the smoke prevented him from breathing and the fire it was consuming the walls of the museum.
This man, with the help of other neighbors, managed to save 10% of the 800 pieces in the museum thanks to his courage and that they knew that without their courage part of their history would be reduced to ashes.
After making this known, Nadiya Biriyk, director of the museum, reported that Maria Primachenko's paintings were hidden underground to prevent them from suffering any damage or falling into the wrong hands.
The importance of Maria Primachenko's work lies in the fact that it is a profoundly national phenomenon, with a marked individual artistic style. The artist was inspired by fauna and flora to capture flowers, plants or animals with colors and strokes inspired by traditional Ukrainian ornamentation.
