‘Betelgeuse: A Necklace for Ruta’: family and friends comemorate Alla Pushkarchuk in Kyiv

Alla Pushkarchuk, a former Chytomo news editor and talented journalist, aspired to write her own novel and open a bookstore. She didn’t get the chance. Pushkarchuk, who went by Ruta, was killed during her military service on April 25, 2024. Family, friends, and colleagues gathered on Aug. 28 to pay tribute to her memory with an exhibition of her photography, “Betelgeuse: A Necklace for Ruta,” and a reading of her poetry and essays. The event was hosted by PEN Ukraine, and the exhibition is ongoing.

Alla was passionate about theater and literature, collected traditional Ukrainian jewelry, rescued animals from frontline areas, and deeply immersed herself in the essence of things—whether it was making ceramics or operating an artillery aiming circle. She fell in love with the sky through the war and this circle. The exhibition’s title refers to the second-brightest star in the constellation Orion and lines from her essay.

The exhibition features Alla’s photographic and poetic works, as well as items dear to her heart—necklaces that she wore over her military uniform; ceramic goats that she sculpted, inspired by the constellation Auriga, depicted in old atlases as a man with a goat on his shoulder; and books from which she drew strength.

“I want to believe that the space we create together today is important for all of us, for our country, and for our defenders. And it is definitely important for ‘Ruta,’ who is with us today,” noted Tetiana Teren, executive director of PEN Ukraine.

Alla Pushkarchuk wrote: “I have a large home library, and I absolutely love to browse through it. It’s my private cosmos, my refuge. The books are not arranged alphabetically but according to a system I personally devised. It reminds me of The Hidden Life of Trees [by Peter Wohlleben], where texts interact with each other on different levels and eventually transcend their boundaries, becoming tangible. That’s why you can also find a Schumann record, a flute, an old Polaroid camera, an hourglass, sheet music, a bottle of gin, a jewelry box… To me, all of this is also literature.” 

During the event, her friends and visitors were able to see the books from this library:

A friend with a book from Alla Pushkarchuk’s home library

Oksana Khmelyovska, Chytomo’s chief editor, remembers Alla as “remarkably mature” with a deep understanding, “perhaps even more than us,” a few years after returning from the front. She didn’t leave many texts behind, but the ones she did, according to Khmelyovska, are incredibly powerful—both her poems and essays. Some of them were read by Ruta’s friends.

Marusia Chuprynenko performed her tribute song to Alla Pushkarchuk, written in memory of her friend, for the event’s participants.

Journalist Stanislav Kozliuk, a colleague of Alla’s at Ukrainian Week magazine, reflected on her talent, saying, “I wish Alla had written more texts.” He mentioned that her duties at the magazine were mainly focused on military topics: “As far as I know, Alla didn’t want that; she wanted to write about culture.” Alla’s comrade Vyacheslav, added that Alla Pushkarchuk didn’t want to be at war either. “She was there only because of her strong patriotic convictions, perhaps due to her upbringing. Alla made an incredibly strong choice, and we must respect it,” he said.

Alla’s loved ones, including her mother, Lesia Pushkarchuk, and godmother, Svitlana Melnyk, attended the event, sharing heartfelt tributes to her memory. Maksym Kuka, Ruta’s husband, also took part in the event.

“I will likely never forget the time we read ‘The Forest Song,’ Lesya Ukrainka’s dramatic fairy tale, together, taking on roles and lying on a single bed in the dormitory, while our roommates attempted to drift off to sleep,” says Inna Krolevetska who shared with Alla Pushkarchuk her student years.

Every object in the exhibition is a part of Alla’s creative legacy, allowing us to imagine what her art might have been like if she had continued her work. A special place in the exhibition is occupied by photographs of flowers displayed on the walls. This is an answer to the question posed in the poem: 

“Let me come 

to your house 

and paint flowers

on the walls?” 

Each photograph thus becomes a kind of response to this question, expressing her ongoing desire for beauty even amidst the conditions of war. 

“All her themes focused on beauty because when the world around is so terrifying, you desperately want to hold on to something beautiful, to believe that everything isn’t spiraling out of control in an instant, and that you have something to catch your eye in these pirouettes,” says Alla’s friend Anna Vdovykovska.

Photo by Alla Pushkarchuk

ALLA PUSHKARCHUK

Alla Pushkarchuk (“Ruta”): a Ukrainian journalist, editor, theater critic, and soldier. Born on November 18, 1994, in the village of Sokil, Volyn Oblast, in Western Ukraine, she studied at the Institute of Journalism of Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts, specializing in Publishing and Editing. She later graduated with honors from Kyiv National University of Theatre, Film, and Television named after Ivan Karpenko-Kary, earning a degree in Theater Studies.

In 2014, she participated in the Revolution of Dignity and joined the Right Sector movement. Later, within their information department, she went to the front lines to write and take photographs. She trained at the 169th Training Center named after Prince Yaroslav the Wise and then went to the ATO zone, where she received the call sign “Ruta.”

From August 2014 to April 2018, she served in the 5th Separate Battalion of the Ukrainian Volunteer Army as a journalist and photographer. After demobilizing, she worked as a journalist for the Ukrainskyi Tyzhden magazine and news outlet (The Ukrainian Week), a PR specialist at the Komora Publishing House, and a news editor for the Chytomo media.

With the onset of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, she and her beloved joined the defense of Kyiv. In March 2022, they both served in the Territorial Defense Forces, and on April 1, they joined the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. She served as a mortar operator in the 58th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade, working with the aiming circle and artillery software. 

She died on April 25, 2024, as a result of a missile strike in the village of Udachne, Donetsk Oblast. Alla Pushkarchuk was posthumously awarded the Order of Merit, III degree. 

Photos: Anastasiia Mantach

Copy Editing: Terra Friedman King