550 Ukrainian Cultural Objects Destroyed by Russian Attack

ILLUSTRATION/PHOTO via Instagram zelenskiy_official

JAKARTA - Around 550 Ukrainian cultural objects were destroyed as a result of the Russian missile attack on the country, said Deputy Director General of the Ukrainian Institute Alim Aliev while visiting Indonesia.

"As many as 550 cultural objects were destroyed by Russian missiles and bombs," Aliev said during a visit to Taman Ismail Marzuki (TIM) Jakarta, reported by ANTARA, Selsa, February 7.

Aliev also revealed that during the war many Ukrainian artists left the country to move to European countries and a number of other countries.

According to Aliev, it is important to have an identity and Russia has eliminated that identity.

"For us cultural objects are an expression of our identity because culture is already in our blood," said Aliev.

Apart from cultural objects, continued Aliev, Russia is also attacking places of worship such as churches. "Even hospitals were attacked by them (Russia)," he added.

During his visit to Indonesia, Aliev was accompanied by Professor of Comparative Politics Olexiy Haran, Director of the Department of International Cooperation of the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UCCI) Anna Liubyma and Director of the Center for Strategic Communication (CSC) of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, Liubov Tsybulska.

The Ukrainian delegation visited Jakarta for a week and will hold a series of meetings and discussions with ministries or government agencies and other institutions.