Pomagamy Archeologom z Ukrainy

Aktualizacje

• 

  Pracownicy Muzeum Archeologicznego w Poznaniu

  04.05.2023

  04.05.2023

  Dr. Ihor Tseunov is another of the embattled archaeologists with whom we are in constant contact. He is currently wounded for the second time in recent months and is in the hospital. He is originally from Mariupol and lived in Bucza before the war. Over the past several months he has lost a great deal, his life so far, his job, his loved ones.... He shares his story with us to show how terrible a thing war is, which can affect anyone, no matter who he was before.
  
  "Ihor Tseunov. About the war
  My name is Ihor Tseunov. I have a doctorate in archaeology. I come from the Donetsk region. I became interested in archaeology back in my student days. I studied at Mariupol State University and first went on an archaeological expedition during my student internship in 2009. They were conducting excavations in the Upper Paleolithic complex of Amvrosiivka in the east of the Donetsk region, led by Oleksandra Krotova. The life of archaeological expeditions fascinated me. As a student I went on expeditions to the south and east of Ukraine. I took part in the excavation of Paleolithic and Neolithic monuments, Bronze Age barrows, and the search for a Cossack stronghold at the mouth of the Kalmius River (in Mariupol).
  For my master's degree in archaeology, I entered the Kiev-Mohyla Academy. At that time, my research interests focused on Paleolithic archaeology. I devoted my doctoral thesis to the history of Paleolithic research in Ukraine in the second half of the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries.
  I worked in the archives of the Institute of Archaeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Later I became involved in teaching. I worked as a history teacher in private schools in Kiev. I co-authored a school history textbook for 5th grade.
  At the time of February 24, 2022, I was living in Bucha near Kiev. I woke up in the morning and heard the sound of explosions. I managed to get to the west of Ukraine, to Ternopil, where I joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
  In Ternopil, my brothers-in-arms, having learned what I had been doing before the war, gave me the call sign "Geret" - in honor of a well-known local archaeologist.
  For the first month we trained locally, and then, in April 2022, our unit was sent east. We took up positions in the western Donetsk and eastern Zaporizhia regions. Our task was to secure and maintain our positions. This meant living in the forest belts, observing and preventing the enemy from advancing. As before the war, the shovel became my tool for digging positions, dugouts and trenches.
  In December 2022, while on duty at an observation post, I came under tank fire and was hit by a shock wave. After this incident, I underwent rehabilitation and returned to duty. In April 2023, I came under artillery fire at my post and suffered a similar injury. I was in the dugout in the evening and heard a powerful exit sound and a loud whistle and explosion. The shock wave shattered the door to the dugout. I felt a strong impact on my face, and was also hit by splinters of wood. I was lucky - the shell hit a tree two meters from the dugout. The tree broke into pieces. I am currently undergoing treatment.
  War is hard routine, physical labor, shelling. War is death, blood and pain. You either get hit and are unlucky, or you miss and are lucky.
  Russian troops destroyed my hometown of Mariupol and killed my father and grandmother. I cannot continue my professional activities while the war is going on. Our lives will never be the same as they were before the war."