Despite all, museum collections have been heavily damaged

Unfortunately, after security forces had another go at the Ukrainian House, the Museum of Kyiv History storage rooms suffered some damage. Let us recall that after the assault on the Euromaidan in the evening of February 18, security forces occupied the Ukrainian House. In the morning of February 19, the museum’s employees saw its storage rooms heavily damaged. When security forces retreated from Hrushevsky Street on February 20, the employees began to evacuate the storage rooms. In a telephone conversation, the museum’s chief curator Liudmyla Surhai told us with agitated voice that all employees were at the Ukrainian House. Joined by the Euromaidan activists, they were rescuing all surviving intact items. She asked to delay our request for detailed comments, because the most important task was to save valuable exhibits.

As reported previously by Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Archeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Evelina Kravchenko, collection boxes were opened, some pictures were gone, equipment and personal items were removed, and research departments heavily damaged. The 17th century china was broken or stolen, as researchers are currently trying to find out. “Some things were smashed on the stairs and floor, apparently after falling out of something when removed,” the researcher posted in a social network. “They lost on the way just renovated Chinese screen in the package. Keys to two collections are missing.”

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Committee of the International Council of Museums sent an open letter to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Culture, Kyiv City State Administration and Verkhovna Rada asking them to create an interagency commission to investigate the incident. The Day will monitor the progress of the museum rescue operation.