Russian Troops Bombard Kharkiv, Ukrainian Museum Struggles To Save Tens Of Thousands Of Artworks

Museum Kharkiv. (Wikimedia Commons/Ace^eVg)

JAKARTA - As Russian troops pounded the city with artillery and air strikes, staff at the main museum of Kharkiv, Ukraine raced to save priceless works of art, many of them by Russian artists.

Apart from causing loss of life, millions of refugees and physical damage, the Russian invasion also had an impact on the many works of art found in Ukraine. Ironically, many of the artworks are the work of Russian artists.

The majestic edifice still stands, unlike any other building in Kharkiv, but its windows had been blown off, plaster and dust covered the floor and the surrounding streets were covered in rubble.

"There are more than 25,000 items in our collection," said Maryna Filatova, head of the foreign art department at the Kharkiv Museum of Art, adding that it is one of the largest and most valuable in the country.

"It is ironic that we have to save Russian artists, paintings by Russian artists from their own country. This is just barbarism," he told Reuters as quoted on March 13.

One of the most prized works in the Kharkiv museum is an impressive version of the famous Russian painter Ilya Repin called 'Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks', which has been removed from the wall and is ready for storage.

Painting 'Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks' by Ilya Repin. (Wikimedia Commons/Fine Arts Museum Kharkiv)

"Basically, it should not be moved," Filatova said of the painting.

"Any movement must be avoided. We treat it very carefully," he said.

He spoke between the cold, empty galleries, where some pictures still hung and others propped against the walls, waiting to be saved.

Across Ukraine, millions have fled the fighting while many more remain to repel the advancing Russian forces. Apart from life and infrastructure, some are trying to save Ukrainian culture and history.

Meanwhile in Odessa on the south coast, a monument to Duc de Richelieu, a city governor in the early 19th century, has been protected by sandbags piled around a pedestal and a statue at shoulder height.

To note, Moscow launched what it calls a 'special military operation' in Ukraine on February 24, to destroy the military capabilities of its neighbors and weed out what it says are dangerous nationalists in Kyiv.

The Russian side has repeatedly denied targeting civilians. Meanwhile, Ukraine and its allies have described Russia's actions as a brutal invasion that has killed hundreds of civilians, forced millions of people to flee abroad.

Filatova and her colleagues are relieved that the collection, which includes works by German painter and printmaker Albrecht Duerer and Dutch masters, remains intact.

But with a broken window, it was impossible to control the temperature and humidity inside the gallery.

"We can only assess the real damage in times of peace, when it's calm," he said concernedly.

"The workers, the women who are still in the city, we will work and do our best to save all. We took the paintings down and will hide them," Filatova said, without specifying where.

"We are doing our best to preserve it," he concluded.