MoC Berezhna: Russia has inflicted most extensive damage to Kyiv cultural sites since start of full-scale war

Russia has inflicted the most extensive damage on cultural sites in the capital since the start of the full-scale war. At least 14 cultural institutions and monuments in Kyiv are known to have been damaged, but the figures are still being verified.

According to Ukrinform, this was stated on television by Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister for Humanitarian Policy and Minister of Culture, Tetiana Berezhna.

“We can definitely confirm that this is the most extensive series of damage to Kyiv’s cultural institutions since the start of the full-scale war, and we are currently continuing to document the consequences of the Russian attack and receiving reports of damage. The Ministry of Culture has now received information about damage to at least 14 cultural institutions and landmarks in Kyiv, but again, the data is being verified,” Berezhna said.

She reported that the building of the National Art Museum of Ukraine has been severely damaged; however, fortunately, the museum’s collection and staff were unharmed. The National Museum “Chornobyl” also sustained significant damage, with nearly 40% of its exhibits destroyed.

“As for other sites and institutions, there’s the Frank Theatre, the National Music Academy of Ukraine, and our conservatory. Then there’s the National Philharmonic of Ukraine, the Kyiv Small Opera, the Yaroslav the Wise National Library of Ukraine on Poshtova Square, the Kyiv Opera—which is a municipal institution—and the Institute of Literature. And also the Kontraktova House, the Post Office, and the Zhitny Market,” Berezhna said.

Read also: National Art Museum of Ukraine forced to close after Russian attack damage

She added that all of this indicates that Russia continues to deliberately attack Ukrainian culture, memory, and identity.

Berezhna emphasized that digitizing museum collections is essential, and the Ministry of Culture is currently working on digitization programs. This will allow for the recreation of certain exhibits in the event of their loss, or, in the event of their theft by Russians, will enable the return of the exhibits through Interpol.

At the same time, she noted that, unfortunately, as of today, only a small percentage has been digitized, because work with international partners providing digitization programs has only just begun.

“We are using artificial intelligence for this, but what is extremely important is that we owe a great deal to those museum directors who, realizing that the museum could fall under occupation, took away paper books and museum archive books. And now we will digitize them and document what was stolen,” Berezhna said.

She noted that some museums are state-owned, some are municipal, and each has a different level of digitization.

She reminded that the Ministry of Culture, together with the government, adopted a resolution on the procedure for evacuating museum items during martial law. These are clear rules: who must do what, in which cases, to evacuate heritage and museum items that are at risk.

“On the one hand, this is a very complex issue, because every owner, every museum director wants to preserve for as long as possible the museum exhibits for which they are responsible, into which they have poured their entire lives, and which are housed in their museum. However, we understand that if a location is 50 km from the front line, it is now a clearly defined zone requiring the mandatory evacuation of museum objects. And, accordingly, as of now, over 700,000 museum objects have already been evacuated from frontline regions,” the minister reported.

She also noted that work is ongoing with international partners to create modern storage facilities and support museums that are receiving the evacuated collections.

Berezhna also reported that the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Preservation Fund is raising funds from international partners.

“There is currently nearly 5 million euros there. It is intended, among other things, to create such depositories. Of course, its most important task is the restoration and reconstruction of destroyed cultural heritage, but creating depositories is also one of the priorities,” she explained.

According to Berezhna, as of now, there is no such repository that has been built or created from scratch. The evacuation of exhibits is taking place mainly to western Ukraine, but the location where these exhibits are being stored has not been disclosed.

Read also: At least five media outlets in Kyiv damaged in Russian attack on May 24

“The attacks yesterday and the day before showed us that Russia is deliberately targeting our culture. They understand that culture is what helps us fight, helps us feel Ukrainian, and nurture our identity. And, of course, it is not only energy facilities and critical infrastructure that are under threat from Russian attacks; culture is, unfortunately, the primary target. This was demonstrated by their attacks a few days ago,” Berezhna emphasized.

As reported by Ukrinform, a number of institutions of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine were damaged as a result of massive Russian shelling on May 24.