“Marisel and Panna Kota are ordinary cats which lived a carefree and peaceful life in the unusual Odesa Museum, better known in Ukraine as the Bleshchunov House.
24/02/2022 is the day that forever changed the lives of both people and animals in Ukraine.”
So begins a comic book created by author Olena lliasova and illustrator Maria Apriatova which features these two museum cats who tell a story about the cultural heritage of Ukraine, which is in danger, about real people and real animals.
It is no coincidence that the comic book writers chose two Museum Cats as the main characters. First, these animals actually exist, and the museum staff have cared for them for many years. Secondly, Odesa is known as a city where cats enjoy truly royal treatment and where they are loved and cared for.
This is the story of the rescue of the museum collection and the partially restored activities in the context of a full-scale war, as well as the life of Odesans in these extraordinary times.
We share this today, Feb. 24, 2025, to mark the third anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, and stand with our friends in the Odessa and Lviv Cities of Literature. Slava Ukraini.
To view the comic: War Diary: Marisel and Panna Kota Saving Cultural Heritage.
