Ukrainian Institute launches Before and After postcards to showcase outcomes of russia’s aggression

The russian army intentionally ruins and destroys cultural objects in Ukraine

To demonstrate the consequences of the "russian world," the Ukrainian Institute, with the support of USAID, launched the international campaign, Postcards from Ukraine.

The institution will issue more than 100 postcards as part of the project. The photos will depict cultural objects from different parts of Ukraine before and after the start of a full-scale war.

Each of them has a description in the Ukrainian and English languages, where you can find out under what circumstances the russian invaders destroyed or damaged the depicted object.

The Postcards from Ukraine project aims to show the world the true face of the unprovoked and unjustified war that russia has unleashed against Ukraine.

"Malicious, targeted destruction of Ukrainian cultural monuments by russia is a massive loss for Ukraine, Europe, and the whole world.

By trying to erase the culture and history of Ukraine, the Kremlin seeks to erase the very concept of the Ukrainian nation," James Hope, director of the USAID Mission in Ukraine, emphasizes.

Currently, the interactive map as part of the Postcards from Ukraine project collects stories about damaged cultural objects in the territory of 9 regions of Ukraine, including temporarily occupied ones:

• Kharkiv (96),
• Donetsk (90),
• Kyiv (78),
• Chernihiv (38),
• Luhansk (32),
• Sumy (28),
• Zaporizhzhia (13),
• Zhytomyr (6),
• Crimea (2).

"russia's war in Ukraine brings not only death to the residents of Ukraine but also erases its culture, destroying historical buildings, mosques, synagogues, monuments, art galleries, museums, libraries, and even unique transport associated with the country, such as the world's largest An-225 Mriya aircraft," Deputy General Director Alim Aliyev adds.

Here are some postcards that demonstrate the state of Ukrainian cultural objects before and after the invasion of the aggressor country.

The Church of the Nativity of the All-holy Theotokos is a brick building in the style of late classicism, built on the site of a wooden church in Derhachi. The first mention of this building dates back to 1691.

On April 4, 2022, during the war of russia's aggression against Ukraine, a russian artillery projectile arrived in the shrine's courtyard.

Lysychansk multidisciplinary school in Luhansk region

The premises were built in 1895, but the Lysychansk multidisciplinary school has been operating here since 1977.

It became one of the model educational institutions of the Luhansk region and was included in the top 100 best Ukrainian schools.

It provides students with quality education for admission to Ukraine's most prestigious higher educational institutions.

In 2017, the Lysychansk Multidisciplinary School was awarded the Belgian Heritage Abroad award.

The building withstood two world wars, the battle for the city during russia's armed aggression in eastern Ukraine in 2014, but was destroyed due to targeted fire by russia on May 1, 2022.

A fire broke out in the school, destroying the century-old architectural monument.

Ukrainian Mriia (AN-225) appeared in 1988.

In March 1989, Mriia set 110 world records for speed, height, and carrying capacity.

In 2004, the International Aeronautical Federation entered the AN-225 plane into the Guinness Book of Records for its 240 records, which became a unique case in aviation.

For the past 20 years, the plane has been delivering large-sized humanitarian cargo to places affected by natural disasters: earthquakes, tsunamis, and hurricanes.

However, on March 27, 2022, russian aviation attacked the Hostomel airport and destroyed the world's largest and most powerful transport aircraft.

The Ukrainian plane symbolized peace, mutual aid, and support that countries worldwide provided to each other.

According to the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy, as of July 30, the invaders destroyed or damaged 450 cultural heritage objects. This list is constantly updated.