Since the Russian offensive began on 24 February 2022, the damage or destruction at least127 culturally important sites (May 10) in Ukraine have been verified by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) though a Ukrainian report makes mention of 284 heritage sites. Several theatres, museums, churches and other historical buildings in attacked cities have had their windows shattered, their walls laced with bullet holes, or have even entirely crumbled to pieces from shelling.
Since March 2022 Heritage for Peace started to assist heritage workers in Ukraine in their efforts for the protection of the rich cultural heritage in Ukraine
Heritage for Peace activities for Ukraine
- – Ukrainian Heritage in Danger – Questions and Answers with Experts
- – Workshop on Historic Buildings and Fire in War-affected Countries
- – Guide Historic Buildings and Fire in War-affected Countries
- – Civil Society in Action for Ukraine’s Endangered Heritage
In this Q&A session held on March 17 participated more than 55 Ukrainians professionals and 18 international experts participated. See the report as PDF
This workshop held on April 29 was organized on request of our Ukrainian colleagues by Heritage for Peace, the Maidan Museum and The Heritage Emergency Response Initiative (HERI). It was attended by 60 Ukrainian colleagues from different parts of the countries and 10 international fire experts from the Netherlands, Norway, UK and USA gave a presentation.
There was a lively Chat discussion and a few questions could be answered.
This short introduction guide is about historic buildings in danger from a fire in a war zone.
It includes historic or valuable churches like wooden churches. The guide can also be applied to buildings housing heritage collections. This guide is NOT on (evacuation of) heritage collections housed in the buildings.
In this guide we use a Risk Informed Approach derived from the Disaster Cycle and ordered our chapters accordingly: Prevention and Mitigation, Response and Recovery and Salvage of historic buildings, including wooden buildings and building-integrated art works, under threat of fire in a war. They are written for non-buildings experts. There is a focus on substitutes for professional materials and equipment, including suggestions for materials that can be sent to Ukraine. The Guide will be published soon as the translated into Ukrainian.
To get an impression of heritage aid actions from other concerned heritage organisations read the summary document of the speakers and chat of the event Civil Society in Action for Ukraine’s Endangered Heritage that took place on Thursday 31 March. Especially see the long list of Emergency Response Initiatives at the end of the document. See the PDF
