About the manager of the Lyzohub family museum-estate who, risking her own safety during the occupation of Chernihiv region, preserved the historical memory and cultural heritage of Ukraine.
In 2022, the occupiers in the village of Chernysh, in Chernihiv region, placed equipment between the villagers’ houses, not allowing them to go outside their yard. Each time, working in her own yard, Tetiana saw the armed soldiers from the checkpoint that was opposite her estate. They pointed their assault rifles at her and did not take their eyes off her while the woman was in the yard.
“Great love led to the village”
“Love is the force that leads us to new paths, gives new horizons, changes destinies”, so one can say about Tetiana Luhovska’s story. She, a native of Chernihiv, had her life, her career in the city, but love led her to the village, which became her new home. Here, in 1988, her husband, a horse breeding specialist, got a job, which became the impetus for the move. “We arrived, settled in a house provided by the collective farm in the village of Chernysh, and stayed here”, Tetiana recalls.
The woman worked in a school, and her husband — in the local collective farm.
However, over time, Tetiana had to look for a job. In the neighboring village of Sedniv, a new school for 200 students was built. To fill it with students, educational institutions in nearby villages were closed, and children were transferred to the new school. Tetiana taught history in Chernysh, but there was no job for her at the new school.
However, fate gave the woman a new opportunity to realize herself. In 2014, in Sedniv, it was decided to open a museum-estate of the local patrons-landowners Lyzohub. This is one of the most famous Cossack dynasties of Chernihiv region. Its founder, Yakiv Lyzohub, was an associate of Ivan Mazepa. For his bravery in military campaigns against the Tatars and Turks, he rose to the rank of colonel and received large land estates.
For 250 years, members of this family held influential positions and played a significant role in the military and political life of the country. In the 19th century, the Lyzohub estate in Sedniv became the center of Chernihiv’s cultural life. Taras Shevchenko visited here twice, and Leonid Hlibov enjoyed spending time here. The Lyzohubs developed agriculture and industry, built churches, hospitals, and schools. The family lived with the problems of its people. And people respected them. After 1917, when landlords’ estates were burned and plundered, the peasants prevented the destruction of the Lyzohub palace.
Ms. Tetiana, who loved the history of her region, as soon as she heard about the creation of the museum, immediately offered her candidacy for the position of head of the new institution. She was passionate about preserving the memory of the former owners of the estate, successful Ukrainian entrepreneurs, and patrons.
The estate was very neglected, and a small team of 4 people put in a lot of effort to bring order here. The woman, with her enthusiasm and sincere desire to restore the museum-estate, inspired her colleagues and the villagers. She organized community workdays (toloky), collective clean-ups, and eventually, the estate no longer gave the impression of a ruin. The park next to the museum, from being overgrown, turned into a favorite place for walks for local residents and guests of the village. The museum became the heart of her new mission, a place Tetiana tried to revive as a symbol of the glory of Ukrainian entrepreneurs and patrons.
«On the morning of February 24, I realized that today I wouldn’t be going to the hospital»
The morning of February 24 was a real shock for Tetiana Lugovska. The day before, she was going to the hospital in Chernihiv to undergo a course of treatment. Her health condition required immediate medical intervention. The woman had gathered all the necessary things the evening before to leave for the city with the first bus in the morning.
She woke up to the sounds of cannon fire and explosions at 4:40 AM. It was already clear then: she wouldn’t go to the hospital. At first, she worried about her family — she called her daughter in Chernihiv, but she didn’t answer. Usually, her daughter would put her phone on silent mode at night and simply didn’t hear calls. When she finally answered, the woman felt a huge relief. Her daughter’s family lived in the northern part of the city, which was most heavily shelled. The family had to stay in the basement almost the entire time until they moved to a safer region of Ukraine.
Photo: Suspilne Chernihiv
«They say that scouts entered our village already by the evening of February 24, — recalls Tetiana Lugovska, — but I didn’t see them that day. I saw them on February 25. The AFU blew up a bridge near Kalynivka and blocked their way to Chernihiv. That’s why they turned towards our village. Because here the road goes through Terekhivka to the regional center».
The woman realized that she would no longer be able to go to work, so she called her colleagues to have them take apart the instruments at their homes, which the museum staff had purchased with their own money.
Military equipment passed through the village of Chernysh in long columns, and she, looking out the window, counted how many and what types of equipment were passing. When a colleague called her from the city to find out if she was alright, Tetiana gave him data on the number of vehicles she observed from her window. She continued to do this as long as there was a connection in the village.
Work despite threats and fear
‘Today I felt that every step I took outside the house was under the gun sights of armed men,’ — recalls Tetiana. The occupiers controlled local residents, practically not allowing them to leave their homes. They placed their equipment between the villagers’ houses. They used civilians as human shields. They knew that the UAF would not shoot where there were people. The woman was worried about what was happening in Chernihiv. After all, rockets and shells flew over their heads towards the city where her dearest ones live — her daughter’s family.
Tetiana Luhovska during the interview
At the same time, she could not forget about the Lyzohub family museum-estate, and especially about the 19th-century grand piano that was brought there on the eve of the war. It was a symbol of revival, a symbol of Ukrainian culture.
‘I prayed for it to remain intact. And, thank God, it happened: the museum survived, although the enemies walked through the park and looked into the windows, but did not enter the premises itself and did not touch anything,’, — admits the manager. — ‘We don’t have many exhibits in the museum: a few pieces of furniture that belonged to the Lyzohub family, portraits, and some other items. We managed to collect all this thanks to active search work. I found descendants of this glorious family who survived during revolutions, wars, and repressions. And who preserved the memory of their ancestors. They were sincerely happy that the memory of their lineage is being revived, that people remember the good deeds of their family.’
For Tetiana Luhovska, the work on restoring the Lyzohub family estate became a symbol of the revival of true values. Her appointment as manager coincided with the time when Ukraine began to shed myths and the cult of ‘cardboard heroes.’ Those whom the Soviet authorities imposed on Ukrainians, creating an aura of heroes around them. That is why the woman sought to recreate the history of the glorious dynasty. To reveal to the world the names of people who contributed to the cultural and economic development of Chernihiv Oblast.
Every new stroke, an episode from the life of the Lyzohub family, added inspiration and enthusiasm to her work. She researched descriptions of the palace and park in the archives. Together with her team, they restored the bridge over the stream and painted it precisely in the color mentioned in contemporary descriptions.
The manager was very worried about her female employees under occupation, asking them to take care of themselves and not go out unnecessarily. While there was communication, Tetyana’s phone received messages from all corners of Ukraine and the world. “After all, before the invasion, people came to us for excursions from Australia, China, Argentina, Chile, Canada, Austria,” the woman recounts. “They learned about us from social media, from friends or acquaintances. And when they heard the news about the occupation of Sedniv, they were very worried about us, offered words of support, and proposed financial aid. I felt how important our work, our museum-estate, is for Ukraine. All of this supported me and gave me faith that we would definitely win.”
A difficult challenge was the situation with Tetyana’s husband. Despite the danger, he continued to go to work in Sedniv to care for the horses.
“Pedigree horses require attention and a strict care regimen; he couldn’t leave them to their fate, — Tetyana recounts. — Every day, her husband walked to the neighboring village, risking his life. Somehow, he managed to explain to the occupiers that he was responsible for the animals, and they let him pass. Twice a day, back and forth, he walked along the road where columns of enemy equipment were moving.” So, during this difficult time, Tetyana and her husband tried to preserve everything possible and for which they were responsible.
One day, the occupiers conducted searches in the village, entering every house, inspecting all buildings, wardrobes, and checking phones. Mrs. Tetyana heard about this from neighbors; the couple hid their phones. They did not lock the doors, as there was no point in doing so.
When they arrived at their yard, the Lugovskys did not even know that their farm buildings and cellar were already being searched. Although they had been expecting this visit from the occupiers, the woman was very frightened: “I turned pale, and suddenly felt cold. When they asked about the telephone, she replied that they had one old one for two people, which had been dropped on the asphalt before the war and taken to Chernihiv for repair. And now there was no way to pick it up. Either I looked that way, or they really believed me, but they did not search us thoroughly.”
The escape of the occupiers
“I read the Lord’s Prayer every day, even though I don’t consider myself a religious person. I read it when rockets and shells were flying towards Chernihiv, when I was waiting for my husband to return from Sedniv,‘ says Tetiana. ’I read it today during air raid alerts, praying that we will win as soon as possible and that peace will come.”
On 1 April, the couple noticed that Russian soldiers had begun to leave the village, taking everything they could with them. This was the moment when the occupation began to retreat, and with it came hopes for recovery.
A destroyed house in the village of Chernysh
“About three or four days later, a man offered me a ride to Sedniv on horseback,’ the woman recounts. “He put me behind him, and as soon as we left the village, I saw the tails of unexploded rockets and shells sticking out of the surrounding fields. The military were collecting them and carrying them to the side of the road. It was very scary because the horse was afraid of loud noises and could have bolted right into that field. I am so grateful to our sappers for clearing everything from the fields. That spring, the villagers managed to cultivate, sow and harvest their crops. And not a single person in Sedniv or Chernysh was injured.”
The memory of the Lyzohubs as salvation
After the liberation of the village, Tetyana realized that the memory of the Lyzohub family could have been the important factor that saved the villages of Sedniv and Chernyish. ‘It seems to me that this very name became a symbol of unity for our village,’ she admits. The first call after the liberation was from the descendants of the Lyzohubs.
They were glad that the museum and the grand piano survived, and Tetyana was alive: ‘It was a moment when we realized that everything we did mattered. And the memory of the past saved our present. It was as if the souls of the Lyzohub family members guarded their family home — Sedniv and neighboring villages — even after death. I saw many missed calls and SMS messages from different countries on my phone. These were messages from people who once visited our museum and cared about its fate and the fate of the people living and working here. I want to note that the Ukrainian flag hung on our museum almost until the end of the village’s occupation; somehow, the Russians did not dare to remove it immediately.‘
After de-occupation, the museum staff started working with even greater enthusiasm. Ms. Tetyana said that they have already prepared 15 routes around the village and its surroundings, published two books, unveiled a memorial plaque on the house of Levko Lukyanenko’s sister, and set up new flower beds in the park area. They also created 5 films about the history of Sedniv.
‘Such eagerness to work appeared in us,‘ smiles the head of the estate-museum, ‘to show the world that we were not broken. And despite what we had to go through, we are always happy to welcome guests who come to us with peace. Journalists, film crews, and volunteers came to us. I tell all of them the history of these places and introduce them to the Lyzohub estate.‘
The museum building
Besides the Lyzohub estate and park, there is a wooden church in the village. Every Ukrainian recognizes this church, as the film ‘Viy’ was shot precisely there. There are also Scythian barrows here — witnesses to the ancient settlement of this area by people. The Snov River carries its clear and clean waters along the village.
«People often came to us even before, — Tetyana says, — to see our famous church, to walk through the park. They don’t always book a tour. But in conversation with them, I try to recall something, to mention some interesting tidbit, to pique their interest and encourage them to take a tour. After all, we have to maintain the museum, earn money. I am confident that tourism will give an impetus to the village’s development. We have wonderful nature, an equestrian sports club, there is something to listen to and something to show».
Ms. Tetyana dreams that as many people as possible would learn about Sedniv and the family of successful Ukrainian entrepreneurs and philanthropists, the Lyzohubs.
She rejoices at every person who is interested in the history of the village and the Lyzohub family. With pride, she shows the park and the museum-estate, telling about each of its members, about their contribution to the cultural heritage of Ukraine. About the enterprises they founded, which provided jobs and developed the country’s economy. We all must know the history of the cities and villages of the country we live in.
The enemy destroys not only cities and villages, killing people. Russian military personnel loot everything they can get their hands on, export museum and cultural valuables, and destroy museums, libraries, theaters, and churches with shelling. And this is our history, a cultural layer they are trying to destroy, to erase our memory and identity.
Tetyana Lugovska and her colleagues, even under occupation, managed to preserve a part of the village’s culture and history, which is part of Ukraine’s history. And now the woman maintains contact with colleagues from de-occupied territories. For example, for the Ukrainian House in Kherson, Ms. Tetyana handed over children’s books by Ukrainian authors, putting a postcard with greetings in each book for those who will read it.
We, Ukrainians, have had to endure a lot of hardship: wars, Holodomors, repressions. But even under such conditions, we have preserved our identity. No matter how much the Soviet authorities tried to hide the truth — it still emerges and overcomes lies and slander. Tetyana Lugovska believes that knowledge of our people’s history gives us resilience and confidence in confronting hostile propaganda. And it is very powerful and easily breaks those who were not interested in their history.
One day, this war will also become history. And it will be written from the words of people who became witnesses to the crimes of the Russian army, who fought for our independence with weapons in their hands. And this must be done now, not postponed until later.
The material was prepared by Vita Naumenko and Nataliia Kalinichenko as part of the advanced school ‘Truth through Stories,’ implemented with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.