Crimean Institute for Strategic Studies
Given the significant number of crimes against cultural and religious heritage sites, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022 is also called a war against Ukrainian cultural identity.
However, the destruction of Ukrainian cultural monuments by the Russian Federation began long before the full-scale invasion in February 2022. Back in February 2014, deliberately violating the principles and norms of international law, the Russian Federation launched its armed aggression against Ukraine. As a result, Ukrainian territories were occupied, namely the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the city of Sevastopol and certain areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The armed invasion, as well as the subsequent activities of the occupation administrations, are accompanied by egregious crimes against human life and health, freedom of conscience and belief, state, public and private property, damage to the environment, regional and international security. Cultural heritage sites are also under threat of destruction.
One of the main areas of activity of the non-governmental organization Crimean Institute of Strategic Studies is the Cultural Heritage group, which has focused, since 2017, on studying the state of protection of cultural heritage sites in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine and identifying the major trends in the course of events in this area through the lens of international humanitarian law.
Since 2017, a group of CISS experts has been studying and analyzing the scenarios of treatment of Ukrainian cultural heritage in the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, and has been conducting research on the state of preservation of sites, museum collections and institutions. Thanks to this work, we have developed our own method of documenting violations of international humanitarian law in the area of protection of cultural heritage sites in the temporarily occupied territories, which is being improved by the organization's experts and used by other non-governmental and governmental initiatives.
We investigate the state of protection and preservation of cultural heritage sites in the territories of Ukraine temporarily occupied as a result of Russia’s armed aggression, identify the major trends in the course of events in this area and violations of international humanitarian law on cultural property by the occupying authorities.
We create critical, comprehensive and evidence-based content that ensures the right to truthful, unbiased and up-to-date information about the indigenous peoples of Ukraine in historical, cultural and political dimensions, as well as about violations against cultural heritage in the temporarily occupied territories.
We conduct trainings on the mechanisms of prosecution for violations against cultural property in armed conflict for representatives of investigative and prosecutorial authorities.
We are an independent platform that brings together scientists, specialists in monument protection, historians, archaeologists, cultural experts, lawyers in international humanitarian and criminal law, international human rights law, and public figures. We are working on the creation of a more critical, comprehensive and knowledge-based approach to the protection of the cultural heritage of Ukraine, which remains in the Ukrainian territories that are temporarily occupied as a result of Russia’s armed aggression and is affected by the Russian occupying authorities, as well as on the protection of the historical memory and national identity of the Ukrainian people and indigenous peoples of Ukraine. Our research is also related to the contextualization of the challenges facing the cultural identity of Crimea in the regional, national and international dimensions, the formation of a new historical and cultural narrative about the past and present of the Crimean peninsula.
Research on the history and culture of the indigenous peoples of Ukraine; monitoring, analysis and development of recommendations for state authorities in the field of protection and preservation of cultural heritage sites that remain in the Ukrainian territories temporarily occupied as a result of Russia's armed aggression; methodological and educational work; conducting trainings and taking other measures aimed at keeping the topic of Crimea in the information space of Ukraine; providing reliable information to the residents of Crimea; analyzing and designing drafts of laws and regulations; national advocacy.
Research on the history and culture of the indigenous peoples of Ukraine; monitoring, analysis and development of recommendations for state authorities in the field of protection and preservation of cultural heritage sites that remain in the Ukrainian territories temporarily occupied as a result of Russia's armed aggression; methodological and educational work; conducting trainings and taking other measures aimed at keeping the topic of Crimea in the information space of Ukraine; providing reliable information to the residents of Crimea; analyzing and designing drafts of laws and regulations; national advocacy.
