Rebuilding Memory: Restoring Ukraine’s Destroyed Archives and Museums
- Matthew Parish
- May 30
- 6 min read
Updated: May 30
In war it is not only buildings, bridges, and bodies that are destroyed. The past is also a target. In Ukraine, as missiles fall and territories are contested, archives burn, museums are looted, and cultural memory is erased —not as collateral damage, but as a strategy.
Since the full-scale invasion in 2022 Russia has targeted not just infrastructure, but Ukrainian identity itself — her history, her symbols and her collective memory. Yet amidst the ruins, Ukraine’s curators, archivists and cultural defenders are undertaking one of the war’s most ambitious acts of resistance: restoring memory.
This is the story of how Ukraine is reclaiming her heritage — not just to preserve her past, but to define her future.
Memory as a Battlefield
From the outset of the invasion, Russia has made clear that Ukraine’s identity is not recognised — not linguistically, historically, or culturally. This denial has translated into a deliberate campaign against Ukrainian cultural institutions.
According to UNESCO, over 300 cultural heritage sites in Ukraine have been damaged or destroyed, including:
The Kuindzhi Art Museum in Mariupol, burned and looted.
The Hryhorii Skovoroda Museum in Kharkiv oblast, shelled in May 2022.
Archives in Kherson and Chernihiv, set ablaze or left exposed to the elements.
The Local History Museum in Melitopol, where Russian troops reportedly stole priceless Scythian gold artifacts.
In occupied areas, Ukrainian-language books have been systematically removed from libraries and replaced with Russian texts. Statues of Ukrainian national heroes have been torn down, and Russian flags raised over historical buildings.
This is not new. Cultural erasure was a hallmark of previous Russian and Soviet domination in Ukraine. But this time Ukrainians are fighting back — not only with weapons, but with scanning equipment, hard drives and sandbags around statues.
Evacuating History
As cities came under threat in early 2022, a nationwide effort began to evacuate priceless cultural materials. Museum staff and volunteers — sometimes under fire — smuggled artworks, manuscripts, and artifacts out of besieged towns.
In Odesa, curators at the Fine Arts Museum worked day and night to wrap paintings in foam, crate sculptures, and move collections to secret underground shelters. In Kyiv, the staff of the Vernadsky National Library backed up rare books and digitiaed manuscripts at record speed.
“We knew we had only hours,” said one museum worker in Kharkiv. “We couldn’t save the building. But we could save the story it held.”
In some cases rescue convoys were organised via private cars, with academics and artists driving cultural materials to safer regions in the west.
These efforts were often led not by governments but by local institutions, NGO's and global heritage networks. The Heritage Emergency Response Initiative, launched by Ukrainian professionals, has coordinated salvage operations across dozens of sites.
The Digital Ark
With physical safety uncertain, digitisation has become the second front in protecting Ukrainian memory. Since the invasion, a wave of digital preservation efforts has swept the country:
Archivists are scanning millions of documents, maps, and records before they can be lost.
Open-source platforms like SUCHO (Saving Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Online) are crawling and backing up Ukrainian museum and library websites — over 50TB of data saved as of mid-2024.
Local institutions are partnering with Europeana, Google Arts & Culture, and other global platforms to upload their collections.
“If they destroy the building, we can rebuild it,” said an archivist in Lviv. “But if the archives are gone — we lose part of who we are.”
This digital ark is not just a backup. It’s a countermeasure against disinformation. In a war fought partly through contested narratives, preserving the facts of Ukraine’s cultural history is a form of resistance.
The Work of Repair
Where institutions have been damaged but not destroyed, the work of restoration has already begun. In liberated areas teams of conservationists, historians, and structural engineers assess the remains of museums and archives. Often they find charred documents, water-damaged books and looted galleries.
In Irpin and Borodianka (formerly occupied territories), local museums have reopened in temporary locations, displaying surviving artifacts alongside images of what was lost. In the Chernihiv Regional Archive staff continue working in freezing conditions, drying documents by hand and cataloguing what remains.
International partners have stepped in with funds, training and materials. Poland, Lithuania and France have provided expertise in emergency conservation, while UNESCO has launched the “Revive the Spirit of Mosul”-inspired initiative in Ukraine to support heritage recovery.
But repair is not just about bricks and vitrines. It is about continuity. The goal is to reconnect Ukrainians with their memory, especially in places where children have grown up under occupation or exile.
New Memory for a New Nation
The war has not only damaged the past — it has produced new history. Ukrainian institutions are now documenting the war itself, collecting:
Diaries, letters, and oral histories from refugees and soldiers
Artwork created during the war
Photographs of destruction and resilience
Fragments of bombed buildings, Russian leaflets, and protest banners
Museums in Lviv, Kyiv, and Dnipro are already curating these materials for future exhibits. The idea is not only to mourn; but to teach.
“We must tell the story ourselves,” says a curator at Ukraine’s National Museum of the Revolution of Dignity. “Otherwise someone else will write it for us.”
Conclusion: Memory Rebuilt, Nation Reclaimed
Ukraine’s archives and museums are more than buildings. They are repositories of identity, sovereignty and the right to remember. When they are attacked, it is not just culture that is threatened — it is the very idea of Ukraine as a distinct and self-determined people.
Hence the work of restoring these institutions is more than reconstruction. It is resurrection.
As Ukraine rebuilds its cities, she will also rebuild her memory — not as it was, but stronger: digitised, democratised and deeply tied to the nation’s ongoing struggle for freedom.
In that sense, every repaired exhibit, every recovered manuscript, every museum that reopens its doors is not just a cultural victory. It is a quiet act of defiance — and a promise to the future.
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Selected list of Ukrainian and international initiatives involved in cultural heritage recovery
Ukrainian-Led Initiatives
Heritage Emergency Response Initiative (HERI)
What it does: Coordinates rapid response teams to assess, stabilise and evacuate cultural heritage under threat across Ukraine.
Founded by: Ukrainian museum professionals, conservationists and heritage experts.
Website: https://heri.org.ua (Ukrainian language)
Focus: On-site interventions, condition surveys, storage and protection of damaged materials.
Maidan Museum (National Museum of the Revolution of Dignity)
What it does: Documents Ukraine’s post-2014 history, whilst also collecting war-era artefacts, oral histories, and protest materials.
Website: https://maidanmuseum.org
Special projects: Archiving everyday objects from the war, such as civilian diaries, art, protest signs and frontline photography.
Ukrainian Institute (Український інститут)
What it does: Promotes Ukrainian culture globally and coordinates heritage diplomacy.
Website: https://ui.org.ua
Involvement: International advocacy for heritage protection and cultural sanctions on aggressors.
Lviv National Art Gallery & Odesa Fine Arts Museum
What they do: Lead evacuation, conservation and public education on wartime museum protection.
Role: Both institutions have helped train smaller regional museums on emergency protocols.
International Initiatives & Partnerships
SUCHO – Saving Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Online
What it does: A volunteer-led digital preservation network archiving websites, museum databases and digital catalogues of Ukrainian institutions.
Run by: Academics and librarians from the United States, the EU and Ukraine.
Impact: Backed up over 50TB of data from more than 5,000 Ukrainian cultural sites.
Website: https://www.sucho.org
UNESCO Emergency Response for Ukraine
What it does: Coordinates global protection efforts for Ukraine’s heritage sites, offers grants, assessments and technical support.
Focus areas: Damage mapping, risk assessment and coordination of safe havens for artefacts.
ALIPH – International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Areas
What it does: Funds emergency and long-term heritage protection projects in war zones.
Ukraine funding: ALIPH has financed museum evacuation, documentation, and building fortification projects in several Ukrainian cities.
Website: https://www.aliph-foundation.org
Blue Shield International
What it does: Works globally to protect cultural property during armed conflict.
Role in Ukraine: Providing legal expertise on cultural protection under the 1954 Hague Convention and training local actors in emergency response.
Website: https://theblueshield.org
Europeana & Google Arts & Culture Partnerships
What they do: Offer digital platforms for Ukrainian institutions to publish virtual exhibitions and digitise at-risk collections.
Example: “Culture Unites Us” – a Europeana-led aggregation of Ukrainian wartime culture.
Websites:
ICOM (International Council of Museums)
What it does: Issues Red Lists to track looted Ukrainian art, coordinates museum protection protocols, and advocates for sanctions on illicit trade.
Website: https://icom.museum
Tools and Resources Developed for Ukraine
Arches Platform Ukraine Edition (by Getty Conservation Institute): A digital cultural inventory and mapping tool adapted for Ukrainian heritage sites.
3D Digitisation Labs: Several international labs (e.g. in Kraków and Vienna) have helped digitise destroyed buildings or statues using photogrammetry and archival plans.
