After a year of war, Ukraine is still trying to preserve its combat heritage

Furniture protected by plastic sheeting at the Potocki Palace in Lviv, Ukraine on May 13, 2022. AFP - YURIY DYACHYSHYN

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2 mins

In all wars, the occupier's strategy is always to target art venues to destroy the country's cultural identity, even more so in Ukraine, which has been struggling since the start of the war to re-emerge its own identity.

Unesco, the United Nations agency for education, science and culture, is on hand to provide aid and assistance, to list and protect what can be.

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At least 239 cultural sites have been destroyed or damaged in Ukraine.

A tally verified by satellite imagery.

"

 These are libraries, museums, theaters, but also buildings that have cultural or historical value, as well as religious sites 

", lists Krista Pikkat, director of culture and emergency situations at Unesco

.

Protect ,

inventory

, document...

Since the start of the Russian invasion, bombardments, thefts, looting, destruction and illicit trafficking have multiplied.

It is necessary to protect, but above all to inventory, to document all that exists, an essential inventory of fixtures for the reconstruction and the future restitutions.

Crates, tarpaulins, scanner, photocopier and above all electric generators are essential for the safety of the premises and conservation.

Chiara Dezzi Bardeschi heads

the UNESCO office

in Kiev.

Accustomed to war zones, she insists on the importance of places of culture for communities who have regained a sense of normality despite the war: “

 The Khanenko museum, for example, is a museum that has suffered a lot.

It is emptied of its collection of objects, but it continues to organize tours of the building, there is a great demand from the public.

I saw a lot of young people, I saw a lot of families 

”

.

There is nothing left in Kherson

In the occupied territories, Russian martial law has legalized the evacuation of Ukrainian cultural property.

In Kherson, Russian troops took away almost all of the collections depicting the history of the city.

►Also read: War in Ukraine: the cultural offensive

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