Organization of museums of western Ukraine after the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation

Abstract

During the war Russian troops are carrying out a targeted and systematic destruction of cultural and religious monuments of Ukraine with the help of various types of weapons and aviation. UNESCO World Heritage sites in Ukraine are under threat of destruction. In the course of modern war, the entire territory of Ukraine is in danger. At the same time, the western Ukrainian regions are considered to be a relatively safe territory. The population from the front-line areas, museum collections are evacuated here. One of the first initiatives to save Ukrainian museums was the Museum Crisis Center, the Heritage Emergency Response Initiative and the Western Ukrainian Union of Museums is based on substantial international assistance. Foremost due to international support, it was possible to receive grants for generators, power banks, as well as the purchase of personal protective equipment for museum workers in case of chemical and nuclear attacks. The activity of Western Ukraine museums was focused on two main directions. Firstly, on financial assistance to colleagues and organizing the evacuation of museum collections from the zone of hostilities or occupation. And secondly, on the preservation of museum valuables in the museums of Western Ukraine by digitizing them and filling the museum funds with the necessary amount of packaging materials. On the other hand, as it follows from the short field study of the master’s degree students, there were only minor fears or worries about possible military actions of the Russian Federation in the museum environment. At the same time there were no government instructions, explanations or warnings about the preparation for the possible evacuation of museum valuables or their more reliable storage. Unfortunately, letters from the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine belatedly responded to the current situation after February 2022 having left the main initiative to non-governmental unions and organizations. In the museum environment after the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation only personal initiatives were the most efficient in forming support and assistance for museum workers.