For Ukraine, for their Freedom and Ours ! - CSO
Stop cultural genocide
Ukraine is suffering the systematic destruction of its heritage. Every stolen work, every looted museum, every destroyed monument erases a part of human history.
Unprecedented plundering
Since the Russian invasion, Ukraine has faced systematic plundering of its cultural heritage. This is not collateral damage; it is a deliberate strategy of identity erasure.
Organizations like our association "For Ukraine, for their freedom and ours!" from Paris, and Ukrainian NGOs such as the Raphael Lemkin Society and the Argo Project methodically document each crime against heritage.
“We are now facing chaos,
But now is the time to organize a legal response."
— Vitaliy Tytych, mobilized lawyer, Raphael Lemkin Society
A historic legal battle
July 10, 2024 marks a turning point: a historic complaint was filed against Vladimir Putin and Russian leaders with the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The objective: to have heritage theft recognized as a war crime and to introduce the revolutionary notion of "cultural genocide" into international law.
This notion encompasses the destruction of archives, the erasure of inventories, the looting of museums and the forced rewriting of history - all weapons used to destroy the identity of a people.
An army of art in action
Everywhere, a discreet but determined "art army" is working to preserve Ukrainian memory. Lawyers fight on the legal front while being mobilized as soldiers. Archivists risk their lives to save cultural treasures.
Every work saved, every document preserved, every testimony collected is an act of resistance against the planned erasure of a thousand-year-old culture.
The plundering of Ukrainian cultural heritage:
a double "Russification"
Since February 24, 2022, the Russian Intelligence Service, the Russian Army, the Russian Ministry of Culture and the occupation authorities of the relevant regions of Ukraine have been pursuing a systematic policy of destruction, appropriation and illicit export of the cultural and historical heritage of Ukraine.
After the annexations, the Russian Federation authorities adopted a legislative arsenal aimed at changing the ownership regime of all cultural property in the annexed Ukrainian regions.
The occupation that began in February 2022 resulted in few thefts, but enabled a systematic, widespread, and organized "official" plundering of Ukraine's cultural heritage. Planned at the highest level and coordinated between Russia's various federal and regional authorities, it follows the same pattern as the first phase of Russia's invasion of Crimea in 2014.
The Russian occupiers systematically took away inventories and other administrative documents listing the collections of Ukrainian museums and certifying their ownership. Works looted since 2014 or 2022 have already been used in public exhibitions in Russia.
The dispossession consists of a double Russification or de-Ukrainization: both of the ownership of alienated cultural property and of the narrative surrounding it.
« The plundering of Ukrainian culture fuels the crime of genocide»
The Chersonesus site in Crimea, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was systematically dismantled between 2015 and 2024, as evidenced by satellite photos. This historic site has been transformed into a museum glorifying "Novorossiya."
"This is a crime against humanity. We have all the evidence, but [...] which jurisdiction is seized of this situation?"
A UNESCO representative confided: " We are very embarassed... since 2022, when the Russians steal works of art, they automatically destroy the inventories and catalogs. For Ukraine, it is therefore crucial to trace the ownership of property, and the process starts almost from scratch. "
The Duma legalised Ukrainian cultural plunder through a methodical system reminiscent of Soviet planning.
Working with our Ukrainian partners, we have developed complementary approaches: they document specific cultural crimes (theft, destruction), while our team demonstrates their systematic premeditation. Our research, although "cultural genocide" is not recognized under international law, provides evidence that the deliberate erasure of Ukrainian heritage could constitute a component of a crime of genocide before the ICC.
"Today we are on the verge of irreversibility in what is happening in the occupied oblasts."
Ukrainian Culture: An Existential Struggle
Podcast: Ukraine Facing War, by the Ukraine Crisis Media Center
Ukrainian culture is another battleground in Russia's war on Ukraine. How can Russia be judged for the destruction and plundering of Ukraine's cultural heritage?
With :
Christian Castagna , French political scientist
Kseniya Kravtsova , Ukrainian artist
Presentation: Tetyana Ogarkova, academic and journalist, head of the international department at Ukraine Cris Media Center
Violence and dispossession in the occupied territories
Press conference February 20, 2024
G uillaume Ancel, former senior officer and chronicler;
André Gattolin, academic, former senator;
Alexandre Melnik, former diplomat, expert consultant in geopolitics;
Alla Poédie, president of the Franco-Ukrainian Business Club;
Patrick Pugès, polytechnician, For Ukraine, for their freedom and ours!
Nicolas Tenzer, geopolitist, teacher at Sciences Po Paris;
What is the situation in Ukraine and Russia?
Under what conditions can Ukraine win?
Why and how can France do much more?
Why would a ceasefire play into Putin’s hands?
How can we refute the arguments of pseudo-realists?
What should Europe do (now and before the American elections)?
How can we make our fellow citizens aware of the danger we face?
How to finance aid to Ukraine?
How can we act together for Ukraine's victory?
The video of this round table allows us to understand Moscow's deliberate desire to assimilate its neighbors by force, as well as the various actions that "For Ukraine" has undertaken - or is currently undertaking - to defend the rights and identity of Ukrainians.
On Monday 24 February 2025, on the third anniversary of the special military operation launched by Moscow to conquer Ukraine, Desk Russie organised a series of round tables at INALCO in Paris to better understand the issues at stake in a war which, beyond aggression, reveals a desire to eradicate the Ukrainian people and their culture.
Because ‘For Ukraine, for their freedom and ours!’ has documented the various crimes revealed by this new aggression since its inception, Desk Russie entrusted us with the responsibility of moderating a round table discussion where its various aspects were explained.
Under the leadership of Sylvie Rollet, chair of this civil society organisation, discussions focused on presentations by the following speakers: