Ukrainian Cultural Heritage: A Victim of Russian Aggression
- Tymur Korotkyi, Nataliia Hendel, and Yaroslava Savchenko
- Jul 1, 2024
- 16 min read
Updated: Jul 6
As a result of systematic attacks by the Russian armed forces on Ukrainian cities, civilians are killed and injured, and civilian objects are destroyed. Amidst these attacks, museums and architectural monuments protect valuable objects. The destruction and expropriation of Ukraine’s cultural property by the Russian aggressor is striking in its scope. These actions have reached such an extent that we can consider it the destruction of Ukraine’s cultural heritage. At the opening of the Ukrainian Institute’s ‘Postcards from Ukraine’ project, the director of the USAID Mission in Ukraine, James Hope, noted that ‘Russia’s malicious, targeted destruction of Ukrainian Cultural Monuments is a huge loss for Ukraine, Europe, and the whole world. Trying to erase the culture and history of Ukraine, the Kremlin is trying to erase the very concept of the Ukrainian nation’.[1]
Architectural monuments and objects of monumental art, monuments, religious sites, and places of memory are subject to targeted attacks. Among other things, a significant number of crimes committed during Russia’s aggression against Ukraine are directed against museums and museum collections, which are a concentrated embodiment of Ukraine’s cultural heritage. At the same time, museums of both state, municipal and private ownership suffer losses. The intangible cultural heritage of Ukraine also suffers significant losses. This heritage has the least protection in International Humanitarian Law, but it is the reflection and carrier of the national cultural traditions of any nation. The project ‘War Crimes in Ukraine: Museums and Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Crosshairs’, implemented by the NGO Fundamental Research Support Fund, documented the damage, destruction, and looting of a significant number of museums in Ukraine (100), resulting in a report of the same name.[2]
Armed conflicts have historically had a negative impact on cultural heritage, with cultural property being particularly vulnerable. In 1954, the Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (The 1954 Hague Convention) was adopted by UNESCO to preserve cultural heritage globally. The 1954 Hague Convention aims to protect cultural property, including monuments of architecture, art or history, archaeological sites, works of art, manuscripts, books, scientific collections, and more. Along with the 1954 Hague Convention, the First Protocol, specific to protecting movable cultural property in the event of occupation, was also adopted in 1954. Ukraine and Russia are parties to the 1954 Hague Convention and the First Protocol.
As for the 1999 Second Protocol, intended to supplement the provisions of the original 1954 Hague Convention and reinforce its implementation, Ukraine acceded to it in 2020, while Russia is not a party to it. However, Ukraine can still use the 1954 and 1999 Protocol provisions to enhance cultural property protection. To use this mechanism, the cultural property must meet certain conditions, including exceptional cultural and historical value, be protected by appropriate legal and administrative measures, and not be used for military purposes or to conceal military objectives.
