Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues and is already causing thousands of deaths and injuries. The conflict has forced more than three million people to flee the country and today we learn that Russian strikes have destroyed a retro game museum based in Mariupol.
A piece of history destroyed
Certainly, given what is currently happening in Ukraine, it is still a terrible loss for the history of video games. In effect, a large private museum devoted to retro computers and video games has just been totally destroyed by a Russian bombardment.
The museum located in Mariupol in Ukraine is managed by Dmitry Cherepanov. It was the victim of Russian strikes which completely destroyed it. Its owner is safe and sound. However, its entire collection, which amounts to more than 500 pieces from the history of computing, has been completely destroyed.
It was Cherepanov who announced the sad news explaining that the collection he started 15 years ago no longer existed. All that remains of his work can be found on the museum’s Facebook page, website and radio.
“An alternate universe” gone to dust
The owner had launched its museum just as the Soviet bloc had started producing its own computers. According to Cherepanov, it was like “an alternate universe“. Indeed, there are enormous differences between the machines produced in the USSR and those in the West. But these productions brought as much nostalgia as an enthusiast could have for a Commodore 64 or Macintosh II.
For more than ten years, the owner of the museum has focused on collecting and restoring these computers that were an extraordinary insight into the computer revolution in the 80s.
Dmitry Cherepanov, who also lost his house in this attack, explains that he will continue to support the it8bit site dedicated to the museum. He also opened a Paypal account to receive donations to help him.
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, many companies in the sector (Sony, Twitch, EA Games, Netflix…) have withdrawn their support for Russia in parallel with the economic sanctions imposed by several countries.
