In western Ukraine, storage facilities are being set up for evacuated museum collections
This was announced by Tetyana Berezhna, Deputy Prime Minister for Humanitarian Policy and Minister of Culture of Ukraine.
New storage facilities for evacuated museum artefacts are being set up in the western regions of Ukraine.
According to Tetiana Berezhna, these facilities are of strategic importance, so their exact addresses are not being disclosed.
The minister explained that Russia is deliberately targeting sites where Ukrainian cultural heritage is stored.
Why the locations are not being disclosed
Berezhna emphasised that the storage facilities are intended to preserve museum collections and cultural artefacts that are being evacuated from dangerous areas.
That is precisely why information about their locations is not published.
According to the minister, these are facilities where “our heritage and our cultural treasures” will be kept.
Which museum artefacts are being evacuated
The government previously approved the procedure for the mandatory evacuation of museum items and objects of museum significance belonging to the state part of the Museum Fund of Ukraine during martial law.
This applies, in particular, to cultural artefacts from areas located within 50 kilometres of the front line.
Such items are to be moved to safer regions to reduce the risk of their destruction or loss as a result of Russian attacks.
How much funding has been allocated for heritage restoration
In addition to evacuating museum collections, the state is working to restore damaged and destroyed cultural heritage sites.
To this end, the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Fund, registered in Belgium, has been established. Its co-founders are the ALIPH Foundation and the Ukrainian Centre for Cultural Studies under the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine.
According to Berezhna, the fund has already accumulated almost €5 million.
What will be restored first
The first sites planned for restoration using funds from the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Fund are to be presented at the conference on Ukraine’s reconstruction in Gdańsk.
The fund’s resources will be directed towards rebuilding cultural institutions, restoring monuments and creating conditions for the preservation of evacuated museum collections.
Museum collections and cultural treasures from frontline areas are under constant threat due to Russian shelling.
Evacuation and the creation of secure storage facilities make it possible to preserve the state-owned part of the Museum Fund of Ukraine and reduce the risk of losing unique exhibits.
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