Protection of Cultural Heritage of Ukraine in the Context of the Russo-Ukrainian War

Abstract

The aim is to analyze the scale of destruction of Ukraine’s cultural heritage in the conditions of the Russo-Ukrainian war, which is increasing and reaching irreparable losses, to identify threats to Ukraine’s cultural heritage sites, to consider facts indicating frequent violations of international treaties and conventions related to the protection of cultural values on temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, and to develop possible ways of restoring the damaged cultural heritage in the post-war period, using the experience of countries that have experienced armed conflicts, which will help integrate Ukraine into the world cultural community.

The research methodology is based on the application of general scientific methods of historical and logical research, methods of comparative and statistical analysis (when studying various stages of the Russo-Ukrainian war and the degree of destruction of cultural monuments), the principle of objectivity using historical-systemic and comparative-historical methods (when putting forward the use of the experience of other states that have historically passed the war phase), synergetic, cultural, and axiological approaches (to draw parallels of the historical-social and moral-spiritual variety), and cognitive principles. Documents systematizing the mechanisms of cultural heritage protection are studied based on content analysis methodolog y.

The scientific novelty of the research lies in determining the reasons for attacks on Ukraine’s cultural heritage sites, starting from covert aggression to the open phase of the war of Russia against the sovereign state of Ukraine from 2014 to 2024. Significant experience in overcoming the consequences of the destruction of cultural heritage in countries that have experienced armed conflicts has been analyzed. The activities of UNESCO and other international governmental and non-governmental organizations in improving international humanitarian law in the new conditions of global realities and developing effective mechanisms for protecting cultural heritage sites in the context of the Russian Federation’s war against independent Ukraine have been considered. The problem of restitution of cultural values seized by the Russians in temporarily occupied territories has been analyzed. The main directions of the Ukrainian government’s and other monument protection institutions’ activities regarding the preservation, restoration of destroyed, and return of stolen cultural values and objects of cultural heritage in the conditions of war and post-war conditions have been outlined.

The main results. The full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation in February 2022, as a continuation of the hybrid war, became the biggest challenge for Ukrainian culture throughout the existence of independent Ukraine. Contrary to the entire civilized world, the Russians violated the principles of international security. It has become a global geopolitical danger for world civilization. From the first days of the war, UNESCO and various state and non-governmental organizations of the countries of the world community supported our country in overcoming the destructive consequences of armed conflict regarding cultural heritage. The protection of cultural heritage sites as material evidence of the great history of Ukrainians and an integral part of the world’s cultural heritage has become one of the strategic directions in countering Russian expansion. Various projects and grant programs are being developed for the preservation and restoration of cultural objects, both in the territories controlled by Ukraine and temporarily occupied. At the same time, ideally, Ukraine should use the experience of effective protection of cultural heritage sites by those countries that once faced similar challenges, that is, were influenced by military actions. Ukraine should become the initiator and active participant in creating an effective system for protecting cultural heritage and developing modern mechanisms of international law related to this issue. Today, Ukrainian monument protection services, law enforcement agencies, and non-governmental organizations, in conditions of military confrontation, should strengthen monitoring of the situation in temporarily occupied territories and document crimes against cultural objects to subsequently demand from the Russian aggressor the return and restoration of lost material and non-material values. And this will inevitably happen because Ukraine will win. The prospects for further studies are determined by the relevance of studying mechanisms for accounting for lost cultural heritage sites and developing strategic directions for the preservation and restoration of such sites, taking into account global experience.