Protect the past - to save the future (Instead of a Foreword)

Abstract

Dear reader! You are holding in your hands the next issue of the VITA ANTIQUA almanac, the publication of which is accompanied by tragic, but at the same time, significant and powerful events in the life of our country. Ukrainian society is going through one of the most difficult moments of its historical development — the brutal and unprovoked aggression of the Russian Federation on our peaceful towns and villages, which for our people has become a struggle for real freedom and independence. Wars all over the world always have the similar consequences, and the Russian-Ukrainian war is no exception: they lead to terrible casualties among the civilian population, mass displacement, violations of human rights and neglect of international humanitarian law. One of the manifestations of such violations is the destruction of cultural heritage; it becomes one of the most vulnerable segments of social life during war. Considering that the war in Ukraine has been going on since 2014, there are thousands of destroyed or damaged monuments, especially in Donetsk and Luhansk regions and in Crimea. Since Russia started a full-scale invasion in Ukraine in February 2022, the number of damaged and destroyed monuments and archaeological sites has begun to rise across the country. The biggest loss for Ukrainian heritage was the looting of museum collections that ended up in the occupied territories. Irreparable damage was the result of the lack of developed algorithms for the protection of museum collections from bombings and the evacuation of collections from front-line territories. Effective evacuation mechanisms were not developed; there are no clear instructions, materials and organizational support for rescue operations in relation to museum funds. This problem has not been solved even now, despite the constantly changing front line in the south and east of our country. In the conditions of the threat of losing part of the cultural heritage, the meaning of this heritage is being rethought in society and an understanding of the importance of preserving and studying objects of historical, anthropological, ethnographic, and archaeological value is being formed.