Our Story

Ivan Babchenko is over 90 years old. He was born in Bryansk region in a large family, had five brothers and sisters. When the Second World War broke out, his village was occupied by the Germans. Ivan, like other boys, helped the partisans. There was a railway junction near their village, through which trains with enemy weapons ran day and night. The man tells how he and his friends put various objects on the tracks to hinder the movement of trains. Eventually, the Germans found out about that and all the boys were taken to a concentration camp in Poland.

Ivan Babchenko says that he saw the smoking pipes in the crematoria of the concentration camp, how people who were along with him died. He was lucky to survive by a miracle.

Ivan got to Donbas after the war, because his older brother was already working here at the mine. There were several mines in Myrnohrad, wages were paid. So the man became a miner and it took him 40 years to work underground and another 10 when he retired. There he married a Ukrainian language teacher. Children were born. And for 65 years, Ukrainian poems and songs have been constantly heard in this family.

The couple learned that the war started again from the TV. The pensioner and World War II veteran still cannot believe that he has to relive those terrible times. He regrets that beautiful Ukrainian cities have been destroyed and has only one wish – to live to see our victory.

And a great support for the realization of this desire is the help from the humanitarian initiative Saving Lives and Metinvest Company. Ivan Babchenko notes that despite his pension is not small, quality products will never be superfluous. Therefore, the family sincerely thanks the company for all the good that it does for ordinary people.