The materials were donated by local residents and former local government members, though many refused due to fear of KGB repercussions. A key item is a 2014 essay on the Nikopol Operation, a five-month WWII battle where the Red Army suffered nearly 1,000,000 casualties. Funded by Andriy Shepko (Verkhovna Rada), it critiques Soviet historiography, advocating for a shift from Victory Day glorification to a European-style day of remembrance. It also examines how Lieutenant Usov’s heroism was used by Soviet propaganda to overshadow the loss of four Soviet divisions in Belarus in a single day, illustrating how history was shaped to conceal military failures.