Ukrainian Cultural Heritage During The 2022 Russian Invasion

Russia began an invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War that began in 2014. It is the largest military attack in Europe since World War II. During the fighting, many pieces of Ukrainian cultural heritage were either destroyed, damaged, or put at risk due to the widespread destruction across the country. This deliberate destruction and looting of over 500 Ukrainian cultural heritage sites is considered a war crime and has been described by Ukraine's Minister of Culture as cultural genocide.

Legal protections

Cultural property enjoys special protection under international humanitarian law. Protocol I of the Geneva Convention and the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (both binding on Ukraine and Russia) prohibit states parties to use historic monuments in support of the military effort and to make them object of acts of hostility or reprisals. The Second Protocol to the Hague Convention allows attacks on cultural property only in case of "imperative military necessity" when there is no feasible alternative. Attacks against cultural heritage amount to war crimes and can be prosecuted before the International Criminal Court.

Notable sites

There are seven United Nation Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) world heritage sites in Ukraine, which include the St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, and an entire quarter of Lviv. Additional sites in Kharkiv and Chernihiv were being considered for nomination to the world heritage status but were not added prior to the invasion.

In late April 2022, it was reported that Ukraine had registered the shipwreck of the Russian cruiser ''Moskva'' as an "underwater cultural heritage" site.

Conservation efforts

Domestic

The director of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in Kyiv, Fedir Androshchuk, worked with two colleagues to conserve and safe guard the museum from attack and potential looting. Androschuck also reported that four other museums in Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Sumy and Chernihiv had managed to remove, store and protect their main exhibitions with the museum in Vinnytsia used as a displaced persons housing. An artist collective; Asortymentna kimnata (Assorted Room) that is based from the Ivano-Frankivsk Contemporary Art Center, created several bunkers and worked with galleries in Kyiv, Mariupol, Odesa, Zaporizhzhya and elsewhere to evacuate and preserve pieces from the galleries.

Many monuments and memorials are protected with bags of sand or wrapped in various materials. In Kyiv, approximately 28 objects were protected in this way as of mid-April. Residents in Lviv attempted to help preserve several stone statues and fountains that could not be dismantled, by wrapping them in plastic, foam and other materials. Additional efforts were photographed and posted by the Lviv Foundation for the Preservation of Architectural and Historical Monuments of wooden frames and boards being used to protect monuments and church stained glass windows.

On 28 March an NFT museum launched by the Ministry of Digital Transformation to help preserve the statehood and history of Ukraine, with all proceeds to go to the ministry. The site, Ukrainian MetaHistory NFT-Museum, would include a "warline" or timeline of events with a corresponding NFT, which would include a tweet regarding a significant moment in the war and an illustration by a Ukrainian artist. By 1 April, about $600,000 had been raised through the sale of the NFTs, with the funds slated to help rebuild museums, theaters and others cultural institutions that had been destroyed or damaged.

Many of cultural heritage objects being protected in Ukraine from Russian invasion are objects of Russian culture.

International

Shortly after the invasion, UNESCO announced that they were working to mark any possible key historic monuments and sites across the country with the emblem of the 1954 Hague Convention, the internationally recognized symbol for the protection of cultural heritage in an armed conflict. The organization would also work with the country's museum directors to coordinate conservation efforts to protect collections and monitor any damage to cultural sites through satellite imaging. Shortly after the invasion, officials with the International Council of Museums began working with Ukrainian officials to compile an Emergency Red List of Cultural Heritage at Risk to document artifacts and pieces that law enforcement may come into contact with if they are moved illegally across national borders.

Cultural institutions in Poland offered aid, through the Committee for Aid to Museums of Ukraine which was created shortly after the invasion. The Committee offered support to all museums and cultural institutions in Ukraine to support and secure their collections as well as documentation, digitalization and inventory of collections. The aid from other institutions continued throughout the war. In May 2022 the Czech Ministry of Culture commissioned the National Museum of Prague to send packing materials such as bubble wrap and polyethylene foam along with safety equipment such as fire extinguishers and oriented strand boards to block windows.

In March of 2022, an effort to back up and preserve potentially endangered data and technology of Ukraine's cultural institutions began as Saving Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Online (SUCHO).

Exhibitions

The Ukrainian Cultural Center in East Hollywood, Los Angeles, California hosted an arts fundraiser which highlighted works by Ukrainian artists in LA in an art exhibit and silent auction as well as a concert, which included the work of late Myroslav Skoryk. Organizers stated that all proceeds will be donated towards humanitarian aid in Ukraine, and hope that the cultural heritage and language would be passed on to another generation. Others, both refugees and transplants, have embraced traditions and traditional clothing during holidays, outside of Ukraine to show support and resilience against the invasion.

During a Milan furniture fair in June 2022, Ukrainian designers Victoria Yakusha and Kateryna Sokolova, highlighted the cultural heritage and symbolisms of Ukraine with their pieces. Sokolova stated her pieces were created in an effort to avoid "Ukrainian design being wiped off the world map" while Yakusha claims her mission is to "show the world the creativity and beauty of Ukrainian culture and thus assert the identity."

Damage

On 23 December, UNESCO reported full or partial damage of at least 231 objects: 102 religious sites, 18 museums, 81 buildings of historical and (or) artistic interest, 19 monuments and 11 libraries. This list contains only cases known from multiple credible sources, and does not contain superficial damages, like broken windows and doors. Ministry of Culture of Ukraine as of 25 December reports 1189 cases of damage or destruction of cultural objects, including 563 "creative hubs", 453 libraries, 63 museums and galleries, 18 theaters and philharmonic halls, and 92 institutions of art education. 21 of them are regarded as memorials of national significance. About 100 objects are destroyed completely or almost completely. Cultural Heritage Monitoring Lab at Virginia Museum of Natural History found evidence of 458 damaged cultural sites as of 10 June 2022. The New York Times Visual Investigations team compiling a list of about 339 buildings, monuments and other cultural institutions that had been partially or totally destroyed by December 2022, with primary attention given to the Donbas region.

On 25 February 2022, Ivankiv Historical and Local History Museum about fifty miles from the capital burnt to the ground after Russian bombardment. The museum contained folk artwork, including paintings by Maria Prymachenko and textile works by Hanna Veres. Some paintings and other items were saved from the burning building by locals. The number of artworks by Prymachenko, Veres, and other artists that were destroyed or damaged is currently unknown.

The Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center, which was under construction, was damaged on 1 March 2022. A museum building at the center suffered structural damage and there was damage to the adjacent cemetery. Other elements of the site, including the memorial's synagogue and menorah sculpture, were not damaged. The Kyiv Small Opera building suffered damage on 15 March.

The Dormition Cathedral in Kharkiv

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