The historical and local history museum in the village of Ivankiv was destroyed by the Russian military on February 25, 2022. At that time, the museum housed the paintings of Maria Prymachenko. The premises burned to the ground, but paintings worth more than 7 million UAH were managed to be taken out of the burning building. 80% of the museum’s exhibits — ancient things — were destroyed. According to this fact, the prosecutor’s office opened criminal proceedings.
The Prosecutor General’s Office reports that as of the beginning of August 2024, the total number of affected monuments of cultural heritage on the territory of Ukraine is 1,096 objects, based on the indicated facts, information about criminal offenses has been entered into the Unified Register of Pretrial Investigations and 75 pretrial investigations have been initiated.
At the same time, the Ministry of Culture reported that out of 1,096 affected monuments, 121 were damaged: objects of national significance, 892 of local importance, 83 newly discovered, and 31 were completely destroyed.
These are only those objects of cultural heritage located in free or de-occupied territories, the Ministry of Culture reports. It is not known how many cultural, archaeological and historical monuments were destroyed in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine during the full-scale invasion. In particular, almost the entire territory of Luhansk and significant parts of the territories of Zaporizhzhya, Donetsk, and Kherson regions are still under temporary occupation, which makes it impossible to calculate the exact number of cultural heritage sites that were damaged during hostilities and occupation.
According to the calculations of the Kyiv Regional State Administration, 26 monuments of cultural heritage were damaged in the territory of Brovarsky, Buchansky and Vyshgorod districts of Kyiv region during the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, including the National Museum-Reserve of Ukrainian Military Achievements in the village of Novi Petrivtsi, Vyshgorod district, and an architectural monument of national significance “Postal Station” (1846) in the village of Gurivshchyna, Buchanskyі district.
Why is it difficult to investigate such crimes?
At the same time, the prosecutor’s office says only one positive case from the investigation of crimes aimed at the destruction of cultural and architectural monuments.
It is about the destruction of the National Literary and Memorial Museum of Grigory Skovoroda as a result of an airstrike by an anti-ship missile of the X-35 type on May 6, 2022. The suspicion was reported to Colonel of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Ivan Panchenko, whose unit committed this crime.
An expert on the destruction of cultural heritage, a representative of the public association “Fund for the Support of Fundamental Research”, Nataliya Handel believes that there are various factors that affect the duration of the investigation of crimes against culture:
“As for the complexity of the investigation, it is related to the possibility of access to the occupied territories or to places where active hostilities are taking place. As for the de-occupied territories, one must understand the burden on the law enforcement system of Ukraine in view of the total number of war crimes and the specifics of their investigation. The Russian Federation systematically and purposefully destroys monuments of culture and architecture in Ukraine, this is part of its plan and policy to destroy both Ukraine, Ukrainians, and its cultural heritage. The destruction of cultural values of Ukraine is part of the neo-colonial and genocidal policy of the Russian Federation.”
Regarding responsibility for crimes committed, Natalia Handel notes that it can be political and moral:
“It is necessary to clearly distinguish the responsibility of the Russian Federation for violations of international law, in particular international humanitarian law and international human rights law. Regarding financial responsibility, the Register of Damages for Ukraine is already functioning, and negotiations are currently underway to create a compensation commission and, in the future, a compensation fund. It is also a proceeding in international courts, for example, in the UN International Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights (international cases against the Russian Federation).”
“Within national jurisdiction, these are criminal proceedings in Ukraine and in third countries (principle of universal jurisdiction), within international jurisdiction, this is the International Criminal Court for war crimes, crimes against humanity and criminal genocide. In addition, Ukraine, together with international partners, is actively taking the initiative to create a Special Tribunal for Criminal Aggression,” the expert adds.
The village of Ivankiv, Kyiv region, was under occupation from the first days of the full-scale invasion. The building of the museum’s historical and local history museum burned to the ground as a result of artillery shelling carried out by the Russians on February 25, 2022, as stated in the materials of the criminal proceedings opened by the prosecutor’s office on February 28, 2022.
The investigation of the criminal proceedings has not been completed, those responsible for the destruction of hundreds of exhibits of the local local history museum have not been brought to justice, at this stage no person has been informed of the suspicion. Although the prosecutor’s office uses all possible options to find and punish.
On June 29, 2022, the prosecutor separated the materials related to the artillery shelling of the Ivankiv Historical and Local History Museum into a separate criminal proceeding.
In July 2023, the Prosecutor General’s Office appealed to the court with a request to continue the pre-trial investigation in the criminal proceedings regarding the artillery shelling of the Ivankiv Historical and Local History Museum. The judge of the Shevchenkiv District Court granted the prosecutor’s request and extended the period of the pre-trial investigation for 18 months, i.e. until February 2025. Circumstances that prevented the implementation of the aforementioned procedural, investigative (search) actions — their large volume and the particular complexity of this proceeding are specified in the court decision.
Regarding the investigation of this proceeding, the Prosecutor General’s Office reported that it is ongoing: “Legal qualification of a criminal offense – Part 1 of Art. 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (violation of the laws and customs of war). The sanction of this article provides for punishment in the form of deprivation of liberty for a term of eight to twelve years. So far, no person has been notified of the suspicion of committing the specified criminal offense. More detailed information about the progress of the pre-trial investigation in the aforementioned criminal proceedings contains the secret of the pre-trial investigation, which is protected by a special law.”
The Kyiv State Administration reports that the Ivankiv Museum took part in the project of the UNESCO Bureau in Ukraine — “Promotion of the collections of Ukrainian women artists, in particular Maria Prymachenko, and the development of a museum dedicated to the recognition of the historical role of Ukrainian women artists.” The project is at the stage of approving the budget for this year.