The second edition of "The Diary of Kateryna Savenko" was presented in Kyiv on 30 October. The book is the testimony of a Mariupol resident and Metinvest employee who kept a diary during the Russian siege of the city in 2022. The first print run sold quickly. The Rinat Akhmetov Foundation has agreed with publishers to release English and German versions, and plans to create Katya's Garden in her memory next spring.
What was presented in Kyiv?
The Rinat Akhmetov Foundation presented the second print run of "The Diary of Kateryna Savenko", which was first published as a book in July 2026. Natalya Yemchenko, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at SCM and Chair of the Supervisory Board of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation, spoke at the presentation.
"In 2026, the entries of the Mariupol resident were published as a separate book, 'The Diary of Kateryna Savenko'. The first print run sold quite quickly, and now the book is coming out in a second print run. And we want it to be translated into other languages."
Who was Kateryna Savenko?
Kateryna Savenko was a 42-year-old Mariupol resident who worked at the Ilyich Iron and Steel Works, part of SCM's steel company Metinvest. In spring 2022, during the Russian siege of Mariupol, she wrote 34 diary entries about life without water, electricity or communication, the constant danger, and the everyday decisions of people trying to survive. She died in Mariupol in early April 2022.
Will the diary be published in other languages?
Yes. The Rinat Akhmetov Foundation has reached agreements with publishers to release English- and German-language versions of the diary.
"We are now actively moving forward: we already have agreements with publishers to publish English- and German-language versions of the diary," said Ms Yemchenko.
What is Katya's Garden?
Katya's Garden is a memorial garden the Foundation plans to create in spring, using seeds brought from Mariupol. The idea comes from the diary itself. In one entry, Kateryna describes using the last water she had, when the city had none left, to water a kalanchoe so that it could live a few more weeks. At the presentation, guests could take "Katya's Bloom" postcards with plant seeds and plant them, so that the memory of Kateryna and her "blooming Mariupol" can grow with them.
Where is the original diary kept?
Kateryna Savenko's notebooks are part of the archive of the Museum of Civilian Voices of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation, the world's largest archive of civilian stories about Russia's war against Ukraine.
