The Russians destroyed Lesya Ukrainka’s museum in occupied Yalta

Lesya Ukrainka Museum in temporarily occupied Yalta ceased to exist.

On the building where the museum was located, there are security and memorial plaques from the Soviet era, reminding of Lesya Ukrainka’s stay here at the end of the 19th century.

At the same time, a new plastic sign in front of the historical building says that under the auspices of the “Yalta Historical and Literary Museum” the exhibition “Yalta. The 19th century (history, music and literature)” and the exhibition dedicated to the outstanding architect of that time Nikolay Krasnov are active here.

Not a word about Lesya Ukrainka. Even at the beginning of the occupation, there was a sign near the building stating that the “Museum of Lesia Ukrainka” and the exhibition “Bombstones” related to the poetess’s stay in Yalta were located on the second floor.

Now the Russians are offering visitors a tour of four rooms. In the entrance hall, the history of the building and partly of Yalta is told, in the music hall there is an exposition about the musical life of Yalta at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, in the next room guests listen to stories about the literary life of Yalta, and in the last room – about the architect Krasnov, to whom the hall is dedicated.

Not a single word, not a single notice reminds us of Lesya Ukrainka – except for the tiny pictures in the windows, mixed with Pushkin, Tolstoy and Tsvetaeva, and the small desk where she worked.