Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK officially opened a new exhibition at The Tank Museum in Bovington before meeting refugees from his country now living in Dorset.
General Valerii Zaluzhnyi was visibly moved when he met Mykola Boiko and his family, who fled Mariupol and drove through a war zone and across Europe in their ‘miraculous’ car after their apartment was destroyed by Russian missiles.
Ukrainian ambassador General Valerii Zaluzhnyi with an infamous Russian ‘Z’ tank at The Tank Museum’s new exhibition
Refugees now living in Dorset
The ambassador, a four-star general and former chief of staff of his country’s armed forces, also offered his uniform to the museum as he thanked the people of Dorset and the UK for their support, solidarity and friendship.
He then cut a ribbon opening the new exhibition on armoured warfare in Ukraine, flanked by chair of The Tank Museum Lieutenant General Sir William Rollo and museum director Chris Price of Swanage.
The exhibition includes one of the infamous Russian ‘Z’ tanks which stormed into Ukraine in March 2022, along with tanks which Ukraine’s allies sent to help stem the invasion, including a Challenger tank from the UK.
But the most moving exhibits are from the Ukrainian refugees who have found a new home in Dorset, fleeing with just a few of their most treasured possessions – often including the family’s pets.
Chris Price, right, with General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Sir William Rollo and exhibitions manager Luke Clark
Heart breaking and heart warming stories
Chris Price, director of The Tank Museum, said:
“It was a great privilege to have the Ukrainian ambassador open our new exhibition – after looking around the exhibits he met some Ukrainian refugees and was clearly moved. He also offered us his uniform, which is extremely generous.
“I would like to thank Ukrainian Relief for all their help with the exhibition, especially its founder Karol Swiacki who helped with interviewing and translating the refugees, whose stories are heartbreaking and heart warming in equal measure.
“The Ukrainian ministry of defence has provided a large quantity of the objects in the exhibition, and the British Army, specifically the Royal Tank Regiment and the Light Dragoons, gave us their full support and allowed us to interview serving personnel involved in training Ukrainian troops in the UK.
“And as always, our tank museum volunteers were amazing with all their help in preparing vehicles and models for the exhibition – I must thank them and our staff who contributed to the displays and ensured it was completed to such a high standard.”
Anastasiia and Mykola Boiko recalled their escape to Dorset from Mariupol at the museum
Anastasiia, then aged 11, with one of her drawings made during the family’s escape
“We took our pet hamster with us”
Among the guests at the official opening on Thursday 3rd April 2025 were Mykola Boiko, his wife Olena and daughters Anastasiia and Nadia, who fled to Poole in Dorset after spending three weeks sheltering in the basement of their apartment building in Mariupol.
Anastasiia said:
“On that day in the middle of March 2022, my dad shook me awake at like 4 am in the morning and I was so confused and scared.
“On the second day, we didn’t have water, gas or lighting and by the third day we had to go into the underground shelter where we lived for another two and a half weeks, although it felt like two months.
“It took three weeks to travel here through Europe in our car, and we took our pet hamster Iriska with us the whole way in her cage, we were just not going to leave her behind!”
Anastasiia – aged 11 at the time of the invasion – also took a large set of marker pens as the family went underground, and created a series of drawings reflecting her feelings, which also form part of the exhibition.
The Boiko family next to an exhibit which shows how Dorset refugees escaped from the Ukraine
Anastasiia drew this picture while she was sheltering from Russian bombs
“Three direct impacts on our house”
Mykola Boiko said:
“We had a very good life, a nice house, my daughters were happy at their school, they had friends and it was all taken away in one day because one country’s leader woke up one morning and made a decision to start a war for nothing.
“We were living in a five level building, but during the time we were in the shelter there were only two levels left. We have given our apartment keys to the exhibition, because there is nothing left of it.
“For 20 days we stayed in a shelter under our apartment building and then we had a family meeting and decided that the best solution to survive was to get outside the city because we had three direct impacts on our house by rockets.
“In the middle of March 2022 after 20 days of occupation we left in our car, which survived the bombing of our apartment with just a scratch. It was a miracle. It was parked at the apartment and everything round it was destroyed, but my car just had scratches.”
The port city of Mariupol on the Sea of Azov, just weeks after the Boiko family fled
“All the terrible things that happened”
Mykola added:
“We crossed Russian occupied territory, passing battleground areas, it was very dangerous and very frightening. Eventually we arrived in Dorset in April 2022.
“People have been very welcoming to us, we are very thankful for the kindness of the British people. You were not involved in our war, but you really wanted to support us.
“It is not only about physical and financial support, this was also mental support, trying to help my family, especially my daughters forget all the terrible things that had happened to them. I am very happy that we had a chance to survive.
“It was hard for me to look at parts of the exhibition because it shows Russian uniforms and tanks and I have seen those with my own eyes. I don’t believe I will ever be able to forgive them for what they have done to my family, my city and my country.
“Russia might have the power, but we have the right of democracy. I feel that if all democratic countries stay together, Ukraine will win.”
Ukrainian ambassador General Valerii Zaluzhnyi thanked the people of Dorset for their friendship and support
“Armour that became a shield”
Ukrainian ambassador General Valerii Zaluzhnyi said:
“It is a great honour for me to be in this historic place, and to open this exhibition which shows how armoured vehicles have become part of Ukraine’s fight for life, freedom and democracy.
“This day we also mark the anniversary of the liberation of the hero city of Chernihiv, which became a symbol of resilience, surrounded, cut off from communication, lacking weapons – but full of faith in freedom.
“Chernihiv held out because it was defended by ordinary Ukrainians – volunteers, members of the territorial defence and soldiers, armed not only with rifles but with unbreakable spirit.
“The same spirit is what this exhibition represents. Not technology for its own sake, but armour that became a shield to protect human life.”
Luke Clark of Bovington, exhibitions manager at The Tank Museum, with a Samaritan armoured ambulance
“We will win, together”
Valerii Zaluzhnyi added:
“Today on the front line in Ukraine we see a different picture. Even the strongest armoured vehicles are losing the advantage in the face of drones, precision strikes and digital intelligence.
“Tanks are no longer a guarantee of victory, we are at the start of a new military era and we must look for a new solution again, to stop so many lives from being lost.
“This exhibition is not about machines, it is about people, about Ukrainian soldiers who fight not for new borders but for the right to live in their own country, and about citizens who became refugees but never lost hope.
“I would like to thank the people of the United Kingdom for your support, your solidarity and your true friendship. We have not chosen this war, but we have chosen not to give up and we will win, together.”
There will be live tank displays at the museum over the Easter holidays
Ink and iron theme for Easter holidays
Ukraine: Armoured Warfare in the Modern World, is the largest exhibition in the UK focusing on the conflict and is open to the public from Friday 4th April 2025.
There are also special live tank displays, vehicle rides and family friendly hands on activities at the Tank Museum throughout the Easter holiday, from Saturday 5th to Sunday 20th April 2025.
The theme for the Easter holidays is Ink and Iron, with activities themed around wartime books and comics, and a special museum trail.
Armoured vehicles will be in action each day from 1 pm at the Tanks in Action display, and if families want to get closer, rides can be booked in a real tracked vehicle – a Cold War M548 troop carrier.
The exhibition was opened to the sounds of a Ukrainian violinist playing music from her country
Further information
- Find out what’s on at The Tank Museum on its website
- Support the Dorset based Ukraine Relief charity
