Museums under bombs. “More than 1,000 cultural sites have been damaged” in Ukraine since the start of the Russian-led war in February, Oleksandr Tkachenko, Ukraine’s culture minister, told BFMTV on Thursday.
On December 23, Unesco, the UN agency in charge of culture, confirmed the damage to 236 Ukrainian cultural sites since February 24: 102 religious buildings, 18 museums, 81 historical and/or artistic buildings, 19 monuments and 11 libraries.
“Museums have been looted,” denounced Oleksandr Tkachenko on BFMTV. In Kherson, for example, a city liberated in November after eight months of Russian occupation, “more than 80% of the collections of the two museums” were stolen, according to the minister.
“At least 450 objects” are missing from the regional museum
The Kherson Regional Museum is one of four cultural establishments in the city that have been extensively looted during the occupation, the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) denounced in December, citing “war crimes.”
“The people of Kherson have already suffered months of torture and other abuses during the Russian occupation, and then saw their cultural and historical heritage packed up and taken away,” said Belkis Wille, deputy director of the “Crisis and Conflict” Department. from HRW.
“The Ukrainian people have the right to return all stolen items and to justice,” he added.
According to the international NGO, “at least 450 objects” from the regional museum have disappeared in total, including in particular the precious “Scythian gold, Russian imperial medals and coins”, but also paintings, furniture or even military uniforms from the Soviet era.
Destroyed Mariupol Theater
“This war is a war of territorial expansion but also of extermination of our identity,” Oleksandr Tkachenko said on Thursday. “It is our cultural identity that is in the spotlight,” he added, mentioning the “tragic symbol” of the Mariupol theatre.
In March, the Mariupol theater was destroyed, shelled by Russian forces while housing “hundreds” of civilians, according to the city council. Moscow has not admitted carrying out this operation. According to the NGO Amnesty International, this attack killed “a dozen” Ukrainian civilians, although it estimates that the actual number of victims is probably higher.
On Friday, Oleksandr Tkachenko accused Russia of wanting to destroy evidence of his attack on the theater, posting video showing a bulldozer destroying a wall. This city in southern Ukraine it has been occupied by the russians since may.
theaters still running
“Despite all the obstacles and attacks, we continue on all fronts, especially on the cultural front,” however, the Ukrainian Minister of Culture said on BFMTV.
“For example, our theaters are still working. Just yesterday we sent a generator to the Kherson theatre,” which will reopen soon, according to the minister.
The latter estimates that more than 50 premieres have been held in Ukrainian theaters since the beginning of the war, in particular in Odessa, Lviv and Kyiv. In addition, “50% of artists and workers in the cultural field have stayed in the country and continue working,” according to him.
“Artists travel to the front and give concerts to the military,” says the minister on BFMTV. A way to keep culture alive, even in the trenches.
Source: BFM TV
