PACE recognized erasure of Ukrainian cultural identity by Russia as an element of genocide
Source: Ukraine’s culture ministry
The Committee on Culture of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe recognized the erasure of Ukrainian cultural identity as a tool of Russia’s war against Ukraine and an element of genocidal policy aimed at destroying the Ukrainian nation.
The Committee on Culture of the PACE in Copenhagen unanimously supported the resolution on combating the destruction of cultural identity during war and peace, which was presented by a member of the Ukrainian delegation Yevhenia Kravchuk.
PACE will consider the adoption of the resolution at its June session.
The resolution asserts that Russia uses cultural ‘purges’ as a tool of war to deny the existence of other cultural identities and erase historical roots, values, heritage, literature, traditions and language.
Such actions are war crimes and crimes against humanity and testify to a specific genocidal intent to destroy the Ukrainian nation or at least part of it, in particular by destroying Ukrainian identity and culture. This is part of Russia’s genocidal campaign against the Ukrainian people.
In my previous column, I wrote about social innovations in Ukraine. Those innovations are part of civic resilience and the democratization of security, which Europe is paying close attention to right now. The EU is trying to work out how to spread responsibility for its own security across society as a whole, rather than leaving it to institutions alone. It is looking for concrete ways to bring ordinary people into the work of defense and resistance.
Petro Poroshenko’s lawyers have appealed to the High Anti-Corruption Court demanding that NABU be obligated to register proceedings regarding the fact of exerting influence on the court and to recognize Petro Poroshenko as a victim in the case of the Deputy Head of the Office of the President, Iryna Mudra, due to her pressure on Supreme Court judges who were considering a lawsuit to overturn sanctions.
Internationally recognized brands and financial institutions should direct capital to Ukraine now, not waiting for the hostilities to end. This was emphasized by Rinat Akhmetov, president of FC Shakhtar, during a working visit to UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, where he met with UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin.
In recent days, Moscow’s official rhetoric has been dominated by hysteria over the decision of…
In 2025, the deadliest year yet for civilians, Ukraine’s three largest charitable foundations raised a record 105.9 billion hryvnias. It is more than the years 2022–2024 combined. According to the UN, humanitarian aid in Ukraine was delivered by more than 450 organisations, reaching five million people over the course of the year. Civic foundations hold licences to purchase lethal weapons, which is a function states have monopolised for centuries. These record sums were underwritten by international government grants, which means foreign states now channel billions directly through Ukrainian civic funds, bypassing inter-state channels. It is hard to imagine a stronger institutional trust in civil society.