Ukrainian Archives "In the Crosshairs": How Russia Steals Our Historical Memory

Viktoriia Vasylchuk, Deputy Minister of Justice of Ukraine

"Whoever controls the archives controls history." Why is it important for Ukraine to work on protecting and preserving archival collections during wartime?

Russia's war against Ukraine is not only a fight for territory; above all, it is an attempt to eradicate our identity, culture, and historical heritage. Under these circumstances,  archival collections are particularly vulnerable. They preserve authentic documents vital to Ukrainian statehood, confirming historical facts and elements of cultural heritage. Archives shape national memory and have invaluable historical, spiritual, and material value for any state.

Over 5 million documents from Ukraine's National Archives have been under Russian occupation since 2014. In Kherson alone, the occupiers removed almost 360,000 documents during the city's occupation. Under international humanitarian law, such actions are considered a gross violation and entail accountability. This issue is regulated by the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict of May 14, 1954, to which Ukraine is a party.

According to our national legislation, the state guarantees conditions for the preservation, enhancement, and use of the National Archival Fund, and promotes achieving world-class standards in archival development and record-keeping. However, ensuring these guarantees during wartime requires extraordinary efforts. Below, we explain how the Ministry of Justice, in close cooperation with other government bodies, is working in this direction.

First, it's important to understand that preserving archival heritage cannot be solved by any single government agency. The key to success is coordinating joint efforts and involving institutions at different levels.

A striking example of such cooperation is the interaction between the State Archival Service of Ukraine and the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. Their joint work resulted in the identification and publication on the War&Sanctions portal of names of individuals and organizations involved in the illegal removal of Ukrainian archival materials from temporarily occupied territories and their subsequent integration into Russian archival infrastructure.

Among the key figures on the list:

— Andrey Artizov – head of the Russian state archive;

— Oleg Lobov – head of the so-called "state archival service of the Republic of Crimea";

— Irina Krasnonos – director of the so-called "archive of the city of Sevastopol";

— Vitaly Semyonov – founder and head of the public organization "Archive Patrol."

 

Additionally, the portal published the names of employees of the self-proclaimed "state archive of the Republic of Crimea" who directly participated in the illegal removal of state archival funds from the Kherson region in 2022.

"This publication is the first on the War&Sanctions portal dedicated to Ukrainian archives. But certainly not the last," emphasize the Main Intelligence Directorate and the State Archival Service. Both institutions are working to expose everyone trying to rewrite history, erase the memory and national identity of Ukrainians, and hide evidence of Russian war crimes. This work is important both for holding Russia accountable and for understanding the location of stolen documents to facilitate efforts for their return.

To ensure comprehensive protection of archival documents in current conditions, the Ministry of Justice developed Resolution No. 475 of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated April 21, 2023, "On Amendments to Annex 1 of the Procedure for Evacuation in Case of Threat or Occurrence of Emergency Situations." The document clearly defines the list of executive authorities responsible for evacuating archival documents (according to their powers and competencies).

The responsibility for evacuation planning is assigned as follows:

• Central state archives – Ministry of Justice together with the State Archival Service;
• Sectoral state archives – central executive bodies in which these archives were created;
• Local state archival institutions – local executive authorities;
• Archival subdivisions of legal entities – relevant central and local executive bodies to whose management sphere these organizations belong.

 

An important innovation is the provision whereby, if a state archival institution is located in a temporarily occupied territory, the State Archival Service of Ukraine may designate another institution as a temporary custodian of information with the right to issue documents. This is particularly important for the social protection of citizens, as it ensures that they can obtain archival certificates confirming, for example, their length of service, property rights, etc.

Another area we are working on intensively is digitization. Thanks to these processes, which began before the Russian invasion, some irretrievably lost or illegally relocated original documents were preserved as digital copies. This allowed us to ensure the continuous operation of government authorities and citizens' access to documents.

For legal regulation of this situation, in 2023 the Ministry of Justice issued a special order (No. 2941/5 of August 15, 2023), which standardized the procedure for preparing informational documents based on digital copies made from original archival documents.

In this war for our historical memory, everyone's contribution is important – from state institutions to ordinary citizens. By protecting our archives, we defend not just papers and documents, but our national identity, our truth, and our right to a future built on the solid foundation of an accurate past.