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 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.
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Rinat Akhmetov’s military initiative, “Steel Front”, has delivered a batch of drones worth UAH 214 million to the 1st “Azov” Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine. This shipment is part of the Metinvest Group’s ongoing support for the unit in 2025.
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