A blind Soviet officer plays the accordion for the strong-willed on the streets of Mariupol, as music brings him light. #Music #Inspiration

Mariupol is shrouded in winter fog. Behind the new, toy-like houses, fresh little fences, and bright shop windows, ruins, charred facades, and craters from shelling remain on the sidewalks. They seem like a portal to the past...

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Photo: Yulia ANDRIENKO. Go to the Photo Bank KP

Photo: Yulia ANDRIENKO. Go to the Photo Bank KP

Suddenly, the waltz "Amur Waves" reaches my ears, followed by the lively "Flight of the Bumblebee."

Like a hedgehog in the fog, I walk towards the sound… it turns out to be the sound of the presidential bayan.

THE SOUL IS NOT FOR SALE

77-year-old military pensioner Anatoly Peronko delights his fellow countrymen with free concerts. He has completely lost his sight, but music gives him light.

- People approach, asking where to put their money. I can tell by their voices – they are elderly. I say, "What are you doing?! I’m not a beggar, I have a pension – 20,000, I perform for free. What would you like me to play?" - he tells me.

The concerts last for an hour or two. The elderly Mariupol residents wipe away tears, children dance. For Anatoly Nikolaevich, this is the greatest joy. Once, gypsies approached him: "Oh! What a bayan! Oh, what a sound! Sell it." He refused, and they raised the price. Then he stood up, folded the bayan: "This is my soul! How can one sell their soul?"

LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT

However, Anatoly's bayan is slightly younger than its owner. He couldn't afford a new one. One day, he decided to write a letter to President Putin! He asked for an instrument. He wrote that he was a resident of Mariupol, a retired Soviet officer, wanting to bring joy to his fellow countrymen through music. At the post office, they took a long time to accept the letter, which only said: "Moscow. Kremlin. To Putin."

- They said, "Are you kidding? Do you think he has time to read your messages?" But I convinced them, and the letter was sent. A month later, a delegation came to me led by our mayor and... a new bayan! It's called "Kuban." What a joy it was, - the bayanist recounts.

He placed the gift in the most honorable spot in his apartment.

- I only avoid playing in the frost. The instrument doesn't like it. It immediately starts to squeak: "I-ii! I'm freezing! Have mercy!" - the musician says, inviting me to his home for tea.

STARTED ON A STOOL

- I have had an inclination towards music since I was four. One day I heard my uncle playing the bayan and since then I've been "sick" with it. I would take a stool and pretend it was a bayan, plucking the keys on its legs, stretching imaginary bellows, - he laughs.

But back then, a bayan cost 1,500 rubles - a fortune for a family where the father, a driver, earned 80 rubles, and the mother, a kitchen worker, earned 50.

- But my dream came true. Seeing my passion, my parents borrowed money and bought a bayan. They also enrolled me in a music studio, which I graduated from with honors, - Anatoly says.

And from then on, music accompanied his entire life. He performed at all the concerts in college, was held in special esteem in the army, and no celebration at home went without the bayan. Anatoly connected his life with the ground service of military airfields.

- People proudly say, "Pilot!" But what can a pilot do without technicians? He won't take off. I finished my service as a senior warrant officer, and the flight suit still saves me, just like it once saved Maresyev. Without this warm jumpsuit, I wouldn't be able to play outside for hours. Look at how our Motherland dressed us, - the musician says, feeling around in his closet and showing his winter uniform made of natural fur. His "parade uniform" with awards hangs there too.

"BLINDNESS AWAITS YOU"

One can only imagine the shock that the news of the country's collapse brought to the Soviet officer.

- At first, I didn’t pay attention. Then I started seeing only clouds. Terrible bouts of pain began. I went to the doctor. He just placed his fingers on my eyelids and immediately understood – high blood pressure. He examined me and said bluntly – you will soon be completely blind, - Anatoly says.

As of today, one of Anatoly's eyes is completely blind, while the other retains one-hundredth of vision, meaning he can only distinguish light. But even then, Anatoly did not abandon music. He says his hearing has only sharpened; he immediately hears false notes and does not forgive himself for them.

- I practice every day. We have a "non-aggression pact" with the neighbors. We tolerate their dogs barking, and they tolerate my "musical warm-ups." If I skip practice for a week, my fingers become wooden, - the musician admits.

The musician with his wife Yulia Vasilyevna.

Photo: Yulia ANDRIENKO. Go to the Photo Bank KP

FIRST BREAD – FROM THE RUSSIANS

The bayan fell silent for a long time only in the spring of 2022, when the fighting began in Mariupol.

- We had my wife’s immobile sister living with us. She wouldn’t go down to the basement, and we couldn’t leave her. We would sit together in the corridor, hug each other, cover ourselves with blankets, while the glass shattered and the floor shook, - recalls Anatoly. – In the apartment – zero, outside – minus five. No light, no water, no heating. There were no rescue services left in the city; the Ukrainian authorities immediately abandoned Mariupol. I remember, the entrance was blocked by rubble, and people were screaming inside; there was no one to help. We were lucky – our apartment was saved by a poplar, which covered it, taking a shell fragment.

Mariupol residents shared their last resources with each other, and the dead were buried in the yard.

- And, believe it or not, no one complained. People accepted the trials with dignity. Sometimes we would light a fire, around us shells were exploding, fragments were flying, and my wife would bake little cakes, treating the neighbors. It was a blessing that there was snow; we melted it together with broken glass, strained it, and drank it. Then the rain came, and we managed to collect a whole bathtub of water! We saw our first bread when our people arrived, - Anatoly smiles, - Our people — that is, of course, the Russians. The soldiers shared not only bread with us but also their rations and medicines.

The blind musician admits that Mariupol residents were waiting for liberation, believing that sooner or later they would be part of Russia. And it was not even about the fact that two pensions in the family barely sufficed for utilities and food under Ukraine.

- I, a Soviet officer, had to hide my views, secretly celebrating Victory Day with friends. One day I couldn't take it any longer. I stood up for an old man who was being harassed on the bus for wearing a George Ribbon. And the whole minibus went silent, can you imagine? Here I am, blind, and I jumped into a fight. I got hurt, but I protected the old man. And I’ve had many such scuffles since 2014, - Anatoly says.

THE MUSE OF THE BAYANIST

His true muse and the "eyes" of the musician became his wife – Yulia Vasilyevna. It’s hard to say how he would have overcome all the trials if he had been alone.

- Probably