In central Berlin, inside a concrete bunker near Mendelssohn Bartholdy Park, the Museum of Ukraine opened on the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The shelter, built in 1942 for 1,500 people, now houses the Berlin Stories initiative, which had already created a permanent exhibition on the rise and collapse of National Socialism.
The new exhibition begins with two narrative lines. One traces the history of Soviet and Russian imperialism: from the war with Finland, the invasion of Poland, the occupation of the Baltic states, and the events in Hungary and Czechoslovakia to the conflicts in Transnistria, Chechnya, and Georgia, the annexation of Crimea, the war in Donbas, and the 2022 invasion. The other tells the personal story of a Ukrainian woman who fled her hometown with her five-year-old daughter, a dog, and a guinea pig; among the exhibits are the child’s shoes, a toy, and family photographs.
A separate hall focuses on Germany’s response in the spring and summer of 2022. The museum notes that the country received more than one million Ukrainian refugees, while residents helped at railway stations, offered housing, food, clothes, and practical support. On the opposite wall, the exhibition presents portraits of German politicians who had argued for reconciliation with the Kremlin, as well as companies that continued doing business in Russia.
The war itself is presented in a restrained way: Bucha, the Mariupol drama theater, the flooding after the destruction of the Kakhovka dam, casualty figures, and the stories of civilians and soldiers. One of the most striking exhibits is a silver Fiat Scudo damaged by a Russian drone near Kharkiv in April 2025. Volunteer Oleh Salnyk was killed on the spot, while Oleh Dehusarov was wounded. A short film nearby shows footage of the attack, message exchanges, and scenes from the funeral.
“Many Germans still struggle to find Ukraine on a map... we still do not know how this story will end, but we can already tell it,” museum director Enno Lenze says.
According to the organizers, the current exhibition covers about 300 square meters and will continue to grow. Berlin Stories has been traveling to Ukraine since 2021, working with local cultural institutions, and during the war has delivered, among other things, 1,500 body vests, 10 vehicles, 900 first-aid kits, and 50 generators. Lenze says the museum is meant as a first step, a reminder that the war continues and that support for Ukraine should not stop.