By: Michael Chuang
In Kyiv, Ukraine, at the Cathedral of Saint Sophia, an easel displays a freshly painted icon on a square foot of wood. The painting illustrates a 17th century Cossack military commander with a humble expression and long gray beard. According to the New York Times, the icon had been painted on the cover of an ammunition box recovered from the devastated Kyiv suburb of Bucha. The painting is an image of mourning and resolve, horror and courage, and of a culture that will not give up.
Since 2014, when war first broke out between Russia and Ukraine, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has been continuously trying to erase Ukraine’s national identity by destroying the country’s music, literature, movies, and monuments in Ukraine. Now, these sites have become battlefields. New York Times journalist Jason Farago wrote, “Every war endangers cultural heritage. Walk through Kyiv or Lviv today, and on every other corner is a statue bundled in flame-retardant blankets. Hapsburg-stained glass is sandwiched between particle board, and Soviet mosaics are overlaid with plywood…”
Recently, heritage authorities used 3D scanners to keep record in case a monument is damaged or needs to be rebuilt. Philosopher Anton Drobovych said, “You [can] see how many historical fake justifications there are in the Russian motivation for this war.” Now Drobovych wears combat uniforms and helmets while taking Zoom meetings from the trenches. In a meeting, he said, “History is no less important than the army. If I felt that it was less important, I would deal only with my anti-tank affairs.”
Late April, Russian forces started to withdraw from Kyiv and target other places to continue destruction. These actions did not change the plans for the citizens who continued to hold music festivals. For pop concert performer, Roxolana, Russian forces blew up a music venue during the performance. Among the dead bodies, her sound engineer was one of them.
As the war rages on, citizens continue to preserve, reestablish, and create works of art to hold their culture together.