www.npr.org
Open in
urlscan Pro
2600:1400:d:592::1155
Public Scan
Submitted URL: http://lnk.ozy.com/click/gb01-2iqavn-xjv1tc-ftyhhup6/
Effective URL: https://www.npr.org/2022/03/29/1088680989/a-retro-computer-museum-in-mariupol-beloved-by-children-was-attacked-by-ru...
Submission: On March 30 via api from US — Scanned from CA
Effective URL: https://www.npr.org/2022/03/29/1088680989/a-retro-computer-museum-in-mariupol-beloved-by-children-was-attacked-by-ru...
Submission: On March 30 via api from US — Scanned from CA
Form analysis 1 forms found in the DOM
<form id="callout__form--newsletter" class="callout__form"><label for="callout__input">E-mail address</label><input type="hidden" name="newsletterId" value="news"><input class="callout__input" id="callout__input" type="email" name="email"
placeholder="What's your email?">
<div class="g-recaptcha" data-sitekey="6LfD6CYUAAAAAIBeUekwZ9KCjF4UyLFtu7NWNaEK" data-callback="onNewsletterSubmitRecaptcha" data-error-callback="onNewsletterErrorRecaptcha" data-size="invisible"></div><button class="callout__submit"
type="submit"><span class="callout__submit-text">subscribe</span></button>
</form>Text Content
Accessibility links
* Skip to main content
* Keyboard shortcuts for audio player
Play Live Radio
* Hourly News
* Listen Live
* Playlist
* Open Navigation Menu
*
*
* Sign In
* NPR Shop
* Donate
> Close Navigation Menu
* Home
* News Expand/collapse submenu for News
* National
* World
* Politics
* Business
* Health
* Science
* Climate
* Race
* Culture Expand/collapse submenu for Culture
* Books
* Movies
* Television
* Pop Culture
* Food
* Art & Design
* Performing Arts
* Life Kit
* Music Expand/collapse submenu for Music
* Tiny Desk Contest
* #NowPlaying
* Tiny Desk
* Music Features
* Live Sessions
* Podcasts & Shows Expand/collapse submenu for Podcasts & Shows
Daily
* Morning Edition
* Weekend Edition Saturday
* Weekend Edition Sunday
* All Things Considered
* Fresh Air
* Up First
Featured
* State of Ukraine
* Consider This from NPR
* Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
* Pop Culture Happy Hour
* More Podcasts & Shows
* Search
* Sign In
* NPR Shop
*
* Tiny Desk Contest
* #NowPlaying
* Tiny Desk
* Music Features
* Live Sessions
* About NPR
* Diversity
* Organization
* Support
* Careers
* Connect
* Press
* Ethics
A retro computer museum in Mariupol was attacked by Russia "It's been a hobby of
my life," said the owner of the retro computer collection that was hit by a
Russian attack in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol.
EUROPE
A RETRO COMPUTER MUSEUM IN MARIUPOL BELOVED BY CHILDREN WAS ATTACKED BY RUSSIA
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Flipboard
* Email
March 29, 20225:31 AM ET
Merrit Kennedy
Instagram Twitter
Fernando Alfonso III
Twitter
Enlarge this image
Kids play on retro computers in the IT 8-bit museum in Mariupol, Ukraine, before
it was attacked. Dmitriy Cherepanov hide caption
toggle caption
Dmitriy Cherepanov
Kids play on retro computers in the IT 8-bit museum in Mariupol, Ukraine, before
it was attacked.
Dmitriy Cherepanov
Nearly two decades ago, Dmitriy Cherepanov started a collection of retro
computers in Mariupol, Ukraine, that grew into an internationally known
assemblage of historic machines, housed in a private museum he called IT 8-bit.
Russia's campaign to take over his city in southeast Ukraine has killed at least
2,000 civilians, destroyed most of the city's homes and turned Cherepanov's
beloved computer museum into rubble.
"I'm very upset," Cherepanov, 45, told NPR. "It's been a hobby of my life."
IT 8-bit held more than 120 examples of computer technology and game consoles
from the last century. Cherepanov estimates that up to 1,500 people visited the
free museum every year before he closed it at the start of the pandemic.
Cherepanov knows the small building housing the museum was bombed, like many
other structures in the city, sometime after March 15. He believes that any
machines that weren't destroyed by the blast were likely taken, given the
desperate circumstances in the city now.
A DANGEROUS ESCAPE
In the days before he and his family fled the city, Cherepanov remembers
shifting into survival mode as the city was under siege.
Sponsor Message
"We didn't have water, electricity, gas and no mobile or internet connection,"
he said during a video chat Friday.
Cherepanov said he saw his neighbor's house get bombed.
"The next night, we couldn't sleep at all, because the planes were flying and
dropping bombs constantly," he said.
Dmitriy Cherepanov started collecting retro computers nearly 20 years ago in
Mariupol, Ukraine. Dmitriy Cherepanov hide caption
toggle caption
Dmitriy Cherepanov
On March 15, Cherepanov and his family gathered their belongings and piled into
a car to make the treacherous trip out of the city.
Humanitarian corridors have been uncertain, but they were able to get through
Russian checkpoints around the city after hours of waiting, and they are now
staying in a safer place in southwestern Ukraine.
He learned later from a neighbor that his home sustained damage after five bombs
were dropped in their yard.
TURNING A HOBBY INTO AN EDUCATIONAL TOOL FOR THE MASSES
Cherepanov cannot hide the joy that computers bring to his life.
"I was really interested in computers from childhood and that interest was not
usual," he said with a smile, while recalling how his hobby baffled his parents.
In 2003, he bought his first computer for his collection — an Atari 800XL, a
computer dating back to the early 1980s.
The collection started in a single room, but eventually expanded "when it
stopped fitting in my house," he remembered. The basement of the building where
Cherepanov worked as an IT programmer was transformed into a museum with rows of
computers lining the walls. People could even play games on some of the
machines.
Cherepanov couldn't pick a favorite computer from his collection.
"All of them are dear to me," he said.
Enlarge this image
The IT 8-bit museum in Mariupol, Ukraine, housed historic computers before it
was destroyed. Dmitriy Cherepanov hide caption
toggle caption
Dmitriy Cherepanov
The IT 8-bit museum in Mariupol, Ukraine, housed historic computers before it
was destroyed.
Dmitriy Cherepanov
Many of the machines are ZX Spectrums, an 8-bit personal computer that was
common in former Soviet nations. In 2019, Cherepanov gave Gizmodo a tour of the
place, which he jokingly called a "nursing home for elderly computers."
Cherepanov is drawn to retro computers because of their uniqueness, in
comparison to the relative uniformity of machines today, he said.
"You can find common things between them, but they are all unique in their
appearance and their functions," he said. "Back then, retro computers, every
computer was an individual entity."
Cherepanov restores the computers and does everything he can to keep them in
working order. The amount that he cares about them is very apparent to his
cousin, Hanna Smolinskiy.
"For Dmitriy, computers were like living organisms. Every computer is like a
person with its own personality," she told NPR. "Like if someone can't turn it
on or something, he will say, 'You need to treat it like a person, and it will
turn on for you.' And it actually works ... whenever they calm down and start
treating it nicely."
AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE
As Cherepanov and others in Mariupol cope with immense loss, the future for his
family remains opaque.
He said they don't know where they'll live. He also has no idea whether he'll
ever try to rebuild his computer collection.
"The main question of the day is how to continue life, what to do and where to
go. And this is our priority now," Cherepanov said. "And there are no clear
answers at this point."
Cherepanov said he wants to keep the museum's website going, and he'll continue
making podcasts about retro computers. There's also an option on the site to
donate to the institution.
He stressed that the loss of this collection — a part of computing history — is
one of many examples of cultural institutions destroyed in Mariupol.
"A lot of other museums were destroyed completely. ... And it's very hard to
realize that this happened to my city, and it was completely wiped out from the
face of the Earth," he said. "I have a really hard time to express my emotions
about this."
* Mariupol
* computers
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Flipboard
* Email
SIGN UP FOR THE NPR DAILY NEWSLETTER
Catch up on the latest headlines and unique NPR stories, sent every weekday.
E-mail address
subscribe
By subscribing, you agree to NPR's terms of use and privacy policy. NPR may
share your name and email address with your NPR station. See Details. This site
is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service
apply.
MORE STORIES FROM NPR
EUROPE
POLAND TO CUT ALL RUSSIAN OIL IMPORTS WHILE GERMANY WARNS ON GAS SUPPLIES
RACE
THE DANCE THAT MADE ITS WAY FROM HARLEM TO SWEDEN
EUROPE
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR: WHAT HAPPENED TODAY (MARCH 29)
EUROPE
RUSSIA VOWS TO REDUCE UKRAINE ATTACKS AFTER TALKS, BUT THE U.S. IS SKEPTICAL
WORLD
WITH FRONT LINES ON 3 SIDES, UKRAINE'S DNIPRO SHARPENS ITS FOCUS ON THE WAR
EUROPE
A $49M RUSSIAN SUPERYACHT HAS BEEN DETAINED BY U.K. OFFICIALS NEAR LONDON
POPULAR ON NPR.ORG
ECONOMY
THERE'S NEVER BEEN SUCH A SEVERE SHORTAGE OF HOMES IN THE U.S. HERE'S WHY
HEALTH
FORMER NURSE FOUND GUILTY IN ACCIDENTAL INJECTION DEATH OF 75-YEAR-OLD PATIENT
CULTURE
READ WILL SMITH'S APOLOGY TO CHRIS ROCK
RACE
JADA PINKETT SMITH CALLS FOR HEALING AFTER HAIR JOKE, OSCARS SLAP
CULTURE
RICHARD WILLIAMS CONDEMNS WILL SMITH'S ONSTAGE SLAP OF CHRIS ROCK AT THE OSCARS
LAW
A FORMER YALE EMPLOYEE ADMITS SHE STOLE $40 MILLION IN ELECTRONICS FROM THE
UNIVERSITY
NPR EDITORS' PICKS
EDUCATION
TEACHERS FEAR THE CHILLING EFFECT OF FLORIDA'S SO-CALLED 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAW
YOUR MONEY
HERE'S HOW YOU CAN AVOID GETTING SCAMMED WHEN DONATING TO SUPPORT UKRAINE
TELEVISION
THE CASE FOR 'IS IT CAKE?,' NETFLIX'S NEW GAME SHOW
ASIA
CHINA TIGHTENS RESTRICTIONS AND BARS SCHOLARS FROM INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES
WORLD
SOUTH KOREA HAS KEY ROCKET LAUNCH, DAYS AFTER NORTH'S ICBM TEST
NATIONAL
18 CAN MEAN AN ABRUPT EXIT FROM FOSTER CARE. FOR SOME, IT'S NO LONGER A SOLO
JOURNEY
READ & LISTEN
* Home
* News
* Culture
* Music
* Podcasts & Shows
CONNECT
* Newsletters
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Instagram
* Press
* Contact & Help
ABOUT NPR
* Overview
* Diversity
* Ethics
* Finances
* Public Editor
* Corrections
GET INVOLVED
* Support Public Radio
* Sponsor NPR
* NPR Careers
* NPR Shop
* NPR Events
* NPR Extra
* Terms of Use
* Privacy
* Your Privacy Choices
* Text Only
* © 2022 npr
Sponsor Message
Become an NPR sponsor