Exhibition of photos, post cards from Ukraine inaugurated at Moldova's National Library

Chisinau, 24 February /MOLDPRES/ - The National Library of Moldova (BNRM), in partnership with the Ukrainian Book Institute and the public organization, Stop russian aggression – Moldova, has organized an exhibition of photos titled, Post Cards from Ukraine: How russki mir (Russian world) destroys culture. The event is held on the occasion of one year since the starting of Russia’s wide-scale invasion of Ukraine.      

Attending the event were Ambassador of Ukraine to Moldova Marko Shevchenko, BNRM director Elena Pintilei, librarians, culture and art people. According to the organizers, the exhibition comprises 22 photo combinations which show cultural sites before and after the arrival of the ‘’Russian world.’’ The exhibits use materials from the Post Cards from Ukraine campaign, implemented by the Ukrainian Institute with the support of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The goal of this campaign is to show the world the historical and cultural sites from Ukraine, destroyed or deteriorated in the wake of Russian army’s bombardments beginning from 24 February 2022.    

The materials exhibited were provided by the Ukrainian Institute and are part of the Post Cards from Ukraine project. The goal is to register and show the damages caused by the Russian side to the Ukrainian culture as a result of the bombardments launched against Ukraine on 24 February 2022. During this year of war, about 450 cultural institutions were completely destroyed: 222 clubs, 155 libraries, 22 museums, 9 theatres, 38 artistic education institutions. Another over 700 buildings suffered significant damages. The Russian army’s actions seriously hit the regions Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Sumy, Chernihiv, Kiev, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and Mykolaiv. 

UNESCO records the fact that the Russian aggression in Ukraine deliberately regards the Ukrainian cultural heritage. Also, UNESCO creates a database with the cultural heritage of Ukraine destroyed during the wide-scale war with Russia. The United Nations uses pictures made from satellite before and following the Russian invasion, in order to monitor the destruction of the cultural sites during battles. The Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, in cooperation with the Regional Human Rights Centre, created a resource for the documentation of the war crimes against humanity and the cultural heritages sites, committed by the Russian army.       

The exhibition can be visited till 24 May.