As of April 25, Russia has destroyed or damaged more than 1000 cultural heritage sites in Ukraine during the full-scale war. Among the regions that have suffered the most are Kharkiv, Kherson, Donetsk, and Odesa. This information remains incomplete, as the losses in the temporarily occupied areas are unknown. 

Whats going on?

·  The Committee on Culture of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has recognized the erasure of Ukrainian cultural identity as a tool of Russia’s war against Ukraine and an element of the policy of genocide aimed at destroying the Ukrainian nation. PACE will consider adopting the resolution at its session in June.

·  The Russian Federation is building up forces near the Kharkiv Oblast, following constant ground assaults. On May 10, Moscow launched a new offensive in the northern part of the region, advancing north and northeast of Kharkiv City. The Russians intensified brutal attacks on Kharkiv; on May 23, Russian forces attacked the Factor Druk printing house, which led to the death of 7 of its workers. On May 25, the Russian Federation dropped guided aerial bombs on an Epicenter hypermarket in Kharkiv, resulting in at least 19 deaths and 54 injuries.

·  Russian forces have recently advanced near Kreminna in the Luhansk Oblast, as well as Chasiv Yar and Avdiivka in the Donetsk Oblast. Moscow is attempting to seize the strategic town of Chasiv Yar on Ukraine’s vulnerable eastern front, following heavy bombardment on the large cities in the region.

·  The world must respond more decisively to Russia’s acts of terror to prevent such attacks from happening again. The only possible way to protect Ukrainians is to provide Ukraine with all the necessary military and financial means to defend itself. Russian terror must lose, and Ukraine must win.

People of Culture Taken Away by the War

From February to May, nine Ukrainian cultural figures perished while defending Ukraine on the frontline.

·  On February 12, Maksym Shtatskyi, a scholar from Zaporizhzhia, was killed on the frontline. Maksym worked at the Khortytsia National Reserve, and he researched the history of Mennonites. During Russia’s full-scale invasion, he stood up to defend Ukraine within the ranks of the 79th separate air assault brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. 

·  On March 11, cameraman and serviceman Oles Samchuk was killed near Kreminna in the Luhansk Oblast. Oles worked in video production, and he was an assistant cameraman. After having finished his studies in 2023, Oles voluntarily enlisted in the National Guard of Ukraine. Later he became an aerial reconnaissance officer within the Azov brigade.   

·  On April 30, actor and serviceman Yevhen Shumilov was killed on the frontline. He performed in such projects as The Real Mystic, The Sydorenko Family, Agents of Justice, Material Evidence, etc. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Shumilov took up arms to defend Ukraine. He served as a combat medic of the 3rd assault brigade.

In November, PEN Ukraine and the Ukrainians media launched “People of Culture Taken Away By The War”, a project about the cultural figures killed during the Russian-Ukrainian full-scale war. It is a series of portraits that emerged in the process of studying these people’s achievements, conversations with their relatives and colleagues, and journeys across Ukraine. 

The project is regularly updated with new stories, which you can read here.

Russias crimes against media

Since the beginning of the full-scale war, Russia has killed 81 Ukrainian and foreign journalists and committed 599 crimes against journalists and media in Ukraine. At least 34 journalists have been wounded.

·  On April 25, journalist and servicewoman Alla Pushkarchuk was killed in the Donetsk Oblast. She studied theater history at Karpenko-Karyi University, worked as a cultural observer at the Tyzhden magazine, and was a coordinator of the Empty Chair People project with Chytomo. Since 2014, she had regularly documented the war as a journalist. After the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion, she joined the 58th separate motorized infantry brigade, where she served as a mortar gunner.

·  On May 29, journalist and combat medic from the Hospitallers volunteer battalion, Iryna Tsybukh, was killed in the Kharkiv Oblast. In her civilian life, Tsybukh worked as a manager of the Regional Broadcasting Department at the Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine and also collaborated with Hromadske Radio. She also implemented educational projects in remote villages in Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts. 

Requiem collects stories of journalists who died as a result of Russian aggression. The mission of the project is to tell the truth that media workers have sacrificed their lives to preserve and to show the world the true face of the aggressor. 

The Russian Federation continued to attack Ukrainian reporters. On April 4,  journalist Victor Pichuhin was injured due to a mass drone strike on Kharkiv. Two Ukrainian reporters, Kira Oves and Olha Zvonaryova, were wounded in the Russian attack on Zaporizhzhia on April 5. 

Russia’s war against Ukraine continues to present challenges for media outlets. On March 14, the office of the newspaper Vorskla was once again damaged by a Russian strike on Velyka Pysarivka in the Sumy Oblast. On April 6, the relocated Melitopol media outlet RIA Pivden was partially destroyed due to a Russian missile strike on Zaporizhzhia. A Russian shelling strike on Zolochiv in Kharkiv Oblast on April 24 destroyed the district administration building and the office of the «Zorya» newspaper, which was located across from it.

In recent months, the Russian Federation has launched attacks on TV towers in the border regions. On April 22, the Russians struck a TV tower in Kharkiv. The Kharkiv Oblast Prosecutor’s Office reports that the attack was launched with a Kh-59 missile. On May 6, Russian troops shelled a television tower in Bilopylla, Sumy Oblast. The TV tower was damaged by the strike and is currently disabled. The Russians reported hitting the tower with high-explosive aerial bombs-500 (FAB). 

Regional meeting of PEN Centres

On May 15-18, the VIII Regional Meeting of PEN Centers took place in Kyiv. The pool of participants included Carles Torner (PEN Català), Khatuna Tskhadadze (PEN Georgia), Carole Mesrobian (PEN France), and Froukje Santing (PEN Netherlands).

During their visit to Ukraine, the participants met representatives of human rights and cultural organizations and visited the localities of Kyiv and Chernihiv regions, where they saw firsthand the consequences of the Russian army’s aggression during the occupation in 2022.

During these days, the participants of the Regional Meeting also adopted a resolution stressing that «Russian aggression is directed not only against Ukraine, but against the very idea of culture, with its intrinsic value of the capacity to create, and against the idea of civilization, with its intrinsic value of the capacity to live together».

In solidarity with Ukraine

In the last months, PEN Ukraine hosted several delegations of intellectuals from abroad as part of the program In Solidarity With Ukraine. Cultural and human rights activists from India visited Kyiv in April. During the visit, Tehnaz J. Dastoor, human rights activist and the UNICEF ex-Global Coordinator for Landmines and Focal Point for Child Soldiers, and Bishan Samaddar,  editor and director at Seagull Books, met Ukrainian cultural activists, representatives of NGOs, and human rights defenders, and visited places affected by Russian aggression against Ukraine. 

The following month, a delegation of writers and journalists from South Africa and India arrived in Ukraine: writer and police officer Andrew Brown, journalist Peter Fabricius, writer and 2021 Man Booker Prize winner Damon Galgut, and writer and journalist Anjan Sundaram. In the coming months, we are expecting delegations from Argentina, Brazil, and Nigeria.

Share materials

·  Afterword. Investigation into the involvement of the Russian military in the murder of writer Volodymyr Vakulenko (Truth Hounds);

·  Sasha Dovzhyk “In Ukraine, Culture is an Act of Resistance” (ISPI);

·  Andriy Lyubka “Opinion: In the past 2 years of war, we have all died a little” (The Kyiv Independent); 

·  Sasha Dovzhyk “Transformations: stories of Ukraine’s resistance” (Ukrainian Killjoy Dispatch);

·  Ukrainian author Tanja Maljartschuk: ‘Our national memory is a mass grave … No one was ever punished for all these crimes’ (The Irish Times)

·  Echoes of Tragedy: Recalling War Crimes in Ukraine (UkraineWorld);

·  Julia Kochetova’s «War is Personal» project;

·  Liuba Linnik “10 years of war as portrayed by Ukrainian cinema” (Ukrainer);

·  Luke Harding “It’s the new normal: in Kyiv’s newest book store, readers fear how Ukraine’s story will end” (The Guardian);

·  Taras Shevchenko, Ukrainian poet and national hero (The Kyiv Independent); 

·  Pereiaslav, the treaty that started modern Russo-Ukrainian history (The Kyiv Independent); 

·  «Life Gains New Value When at War»: Reflections of Ukrainian Poet and Soldier Dmytro Lazutkin (UkraineWorld);

·  What will Russia’s attack on Kharkiv printing house mean for Ukraine’s publishing industry? (The Kyiv Independent).

PEN Ukraine web page on war

Visit our webpage for the latest news and materials on Russia’s war against Ukraine. Here you will find information on the situation in Ukraine, links to important materials and information resources, petitions, addresses, a list of publications about Ukraine to read in English, and books by Ukrainian authors recommended for translation. The page is continuously updated with the latest news and links.