You'll Never Drink Alone were the words that hung over the bar at the Old Hem, a famous bar in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.
The bar is named after Ernest Hemingway, and its benefactors would stroll past a sculpture of the unbelievable American essayist on their way in.
It was famous among the city's young creatives, and Serhiy Zhadan, one of Ukraine's most popular artists, would regularly perform and drink there.
Be that as it may, presently the Old Hem lies in ruins.
It was totally obliterated during Russian shelling of the city on Monday. The Kharkiv examiner's office says two individuals kicked the bucket in the assault.
The bar's proprietor, Kostiantyn Kuts, let the BBC know that no staff were in the bar when the strike hit, and the people who kicked the bucket were in condos over the bar.
The Old Hem quit emptying pints and transformed into a stopgap reinforced hideout when the Russian armed force attacked Ukraine on 24 February, Mr Kuts says.
He at first trusted that he'd just be quieting down momentarily.
"We didn't totally have confidence in what the future held that soon the bar would work. However, the deceptions were obliterated with the primary bombs on private structures," he said in a message.
In the beginning of the attack, Kharkiv retaliated a Russian defensively covered section. From that point forward, it has experienced daily Russian airstrikes and shelling, with many regular citizens killed and hundreds harmed.
In any case, in the weeks paving the way to the attack, Mr Kuts says it was the same old thing at the bar.
 |
| The pub was dedicated to Hemingway |
This simple climate was one the Old Hem had developed north of 10 years.
Mr Kuts says the bar was opened in 2012 as a spot where individuals could "meet and examine current undertakings over a glass of brew". It before long turned into a point of convergence for Kharkiv's creatives and would grandstand nearby ability.
Yuri, who frequently visited the Old Hem and declined to give his complete name, said it was even more a center rather than a bar. He reviews performer Oleh Skrypka, entertainer with the earth shattering Ukrainian musical crew Vopli Vidopliassova, playing an intriguing close show. Gatherings would consistently go on into the early hours.
"It was one of the principal places in Kharkiv to help Maidan openly with banners and declarations on the entryways," he says, concerning the dissent development that removed favorable to Russian President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014.
"Opportunity and a majority rule government joined with modest brew is the reason youth cherished it I surmise," he says.
The bar was committed to Hemingway, one of Mr Kuts' saints, and had a sculpture of the author at the entry. The dividers of the bar were decked out with pictures of other notorious writers including twentieth Century Russian author Sergei Dovlatov, Charles Bukowski and Mark Twain.
"I was frequently asked the inquiry - for what reason Old Hem?" Mr Kuts says.
He said this was out of warmth for a close buddy instead of a reference to his age.
However, what truly made the bar was individuals, he adds.
Mr Kuts is currently in western Ukraine and is expecting to come to Germany. However, one day he desires to get back to his city to modify his darling bar.
"I'm certain Hem's story didn't end today," he says. "We will win and Hem will rise once more."