Poignant Ukrainian war exhibition opens at museum

Anastasiia's pictures are a poignant exhibit at the museum's exhibition

Ukrainian refugees' possessions are a critical part of a museum's new exhibition covering the Ukraine war.

The Tank Museum in Bovington, Dorset, is thought to have the largest exhibition in the UK focusing on the conflict.

It was opened by the Ukrainian ambassador to the UK, General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, on Thursday and includes tanks and personal items the museum's exhibitions manager said are the most poignant exhibits.

The museum was put in touch with Ukrainian refugees now living in Dorset by the Bournemouth-based Ukraine Relief charity.

The keys became useless when the family's home was bombed

Amongst the items are a family's hamster cage and a set of house keys that became redundant when their Mariupol home was bombed.

"It's about the personal stories," the museum's exhibitions manager, Luke Clark, said.

"If you come here and you take anything away from this exhibition, it's hopefully that you'll have hope for those people who are still out there [in Ukraine], the people who are still in the UK and the hope that they will go home.

"We want to give as much hope to those people as possible."

Anastasiia, who is 11, persuaded her family to flee the war, having endured three weeks in a basement without seeing the sun.

Her pictures of the war are shown at the exhibition.

Other items include a Russian T-72 tank, daubed with a Z, and an example of a British Challenger 2 tank. Fourteen of those were donated by the UK government to the Ukrainian Army.

The exhibition is due to last for two years.