BASEES Talk: The Destruction of Ukrainian Cultural Heritage after the Intensification of Military Operations on 24 February 2022
In Autumn/Winter 2023/24 BASEES will organise a series of Talks spotlighting the research of the recipients of Non-Residentials Fellows from Ukraine. In January, Dr Inna Chernikova will talk about the destruction of the Ukrainian heritage since 2022.
Abstract
Ukraine has a centuries-old tradition of preserving historical and cultural monuments, and is home to seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Under martial law which was introduced in Ukraine on 24 February 2022, the issue of saving cultural heritage sites from destruction has been extremely important.
The project is aimed at researching, describing, photographing and creating a register of cultural heritage sites of Ukraine that have been destroyed or partially destroyed since the beginning of martial law on 24 February 2022. Accordingly, the research was carried out in three stages:
1. Assessment of the state of the damaged objects of cultural heritage of Ukraine since the beginning of martial law in Ukraine (from 24 February 2022 to the present). The scale of loss of historical and cultural monuments, the degree of damage, the possibility of reconstruction or conservation at this stage of military events, and conservation actions were analysed.
2. Creation of the register of historical and cultural monuments of Ukraine lost as a result of hostilities in 2022. Relevant photographs of the objects registered were included
3. Development of proposals for specific and effective measures to preserve the cultural heritage of Ukraine, involving specialists from the state institutions, the public, foreign representatives, and enthusiastic conservationists.
The benefit of the project. Under the conditions of martial law in Ukraine, I consider it an urgent necessity to highlight the scale of the loss of Ukraine’s cultural heritage in the context of Russian aggression since 2022. The creation of the register of cultural heritage sites of Ukraine lost under martial law, with photographic documentation of the destruction, should be communicated to the world community and become a guarantee of developing specific ways to protect and preserve the monuments of history and culture of Ukraine in today’s realities.
Bio
Inna Chernikova (born 20 October 1981). I was born and spent my childhood in Kharkiv, Ukraine. After graduating from high school with honours (gold medal) I entered H.S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University in 1998. While studying at History Department, І became interested in the problem of preservation of the cultural heritage of Ukraine in the interwar period (1921-1941). I graduated from the University in 2003 with honours.
From 2003 to 2007, І completed my postgraduate programme in Ukrainian history, defending a dissertation “Protection, Research and Use of Historical and Cultural Monuments in the Kharkiv Region (1921-1941)”, obtaining my PhD (Candidate of Historical Sciences).
From 2007 to present – Associate Professor of the Department of History of Ukraine, Deputy Dean (Coordinator) for Educational Work of the Faculty of History (since 2022, the Faculty of History and Law) at H.S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University.
Courses taught: Ukraine: History and Modern Realities, Ancient and Medieval History of Ukraine, History of Ukraine from the Earliest Times to Modernism.
The following courses developed and convened: Protection of Cultural Heritage of Ukraine, Phenomenon of Ukrainian Cossacks, Theory and Practice of Mass Information and the History of Speechwriting Development.
Member of the All-Ukrainian public organization “Ukrainian Society for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments” (Kyiv) (USPHCM).
ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE
2023 Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture and the consortium of universities and Jewish studies organizations across the United States and Canada, Ukrainian Emergency Scholarship. Access to electronic resources at Fordham University and the New York Public Library.
2023 USC Shoah Foundation - Institute for Visual History and Education, Non-residential Scholar Program, which will provide full remote access to USC Shoah Foundation Visual History Archive for one year.
2023 British Association for Slavonic & East European Studies (BASEES) - non-residential fellowships for Ukrainian scholars in the humanities and social sciences based in Ukraine, 12 months BASEES membership.
2022 Ukraine Virtual Scholar Program (a three month stipend program for the Mandel Center Alumni of the Holocaust Summer Programs in Ukraine, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum).
PUBLICATIONS
I have more than 60 publications on issues of cultural heritage preservation in Ukraine, protection of historical and cultural monuments during the interwar period in the Kharkiv oblast’ and Soviet Ukraine, 1921-1941; Soviet repressions in Ukraine, 1933-1937.