Foreign Affairs
English
Submit an article
Back to Issue: No.3, 2023

The return of historical monuments removed from the territory of Ukraine after 2014. Problems of archaeological research in times of war

Kasa Arlind

Abstract

The relevance of the research is conditioned upon the increase in the national consciousness of the Ukrainian nation, a new stage of the national revival of the Ukrainian state and consolidation of the Ukrainian people against the background of the full-scale invasion and occupation of Ukrainian territories. The purpose of this research is to explore the level of threat to the national historical and cultural heritage in Ukraine, including the temporarily occupied territories. The research methodology used in this work is a comprehensive combination of quantitative and qualitative analysis of archaeological and cultural monuments, and the following methods: ascent, synthesis, analysis, comparison, and the axiomatic method. As a result of the study, the main regions of historical and cultural monuments in the temporarily occupied territories and in the areas where hostilities are conducted were explored. The research examines the competent opinion of leading Ukrainian historians and archaeologists on the main problems of archaeological research and the restitution of the treasures of Ukrainian culture temporarily seized by the occupier. The legal foundations of such restitution are established in the context of the main provisions of national and international humanitarian law. These circumstances were the prerequisites for the cancellation of the decision of the District Court of Amsterdam in favour of the Ukrainian party. It is substantiated that the position of the authorities of the Kingdom of the Netherlands does not comply with the statute of legal identity and independence of the State and ignores the inviolability of property rights. Although, in turn, the country is based on the declaration of compliance with international law on the legal immunity of the state and its property, as established by the 2004 UN Convention. The conclusions presented based on them contain updated scientific knowledge on the areas of restoration of a fair legal status to the historical and cultural heritage of the Ukrainian nation and bring to science relevant scientific and practical recommendations for improving the current legislation of Ukraine in the field of museum and archaeological science

Keywords

Scythian gold; cultural heritage; historical artefact; Amsterdam arbitration; return of cultural property

References

  1. 500 churches and religious sites destroyed in Ukraine during the war (2022). Retrieved from https://www.oikoumene. org/news/500-churches-and-religious-sites-destroyed-in-ukraine-during-the-war.
  2. Beckwith, C.I. (2023). The scythian empire: Central Eurasia and the birth of the classical age from Persia to China. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
  3. Campfens, E., & Tarsis, I. (2017). Crime a river! Crimean gold in the crosschairs of geopolitics. IFAR Journal, 18(1), 36-48.
  4. Dannyk, K. (2020). Current issues of cultural life activity of the armenian communities of modern Ukraine. In culture and art: Modern scientific dimension. Materials of the II international scientific conference young scientists, postgraduates and masters (pp. 23-25). Kyiv: National Academy of Managers of Culture and Arts.
  5. Fetsko, I.M. (2022). Ukrainian translation terminology in its modern challenges (based on the material of trilingual editions of the XXI century). Scientific notes of the National University “Ostroh Academy”: Series “Philology”, 13(81), 150-153. doi: 10.25264/2519-2558-2022-13(81)-150-153.
  6. Foltz, R. (2021). The ossetes. Modern-day scythians of the caucasusichard. London: I.B. Tauris.
  7. Grubinko, A.V., & Didushyn, V.V. (2021). Monument preservation activities in the context of the deoccupation of Crimea and part of Donbas. Actual problems of jurisprudence, 3(27), 20-24. doi: 10.35774/app2021.03.020.
  8. History lessons: The conflict in Ukraine spreads to its museums. (2014). Retrieved from https://www.economist.com/ europe/2014/04/19/history-lessons.
  9. Kot, S.I. (2018). On the state of preservation of cultural heritage of Ukraine. Informational and analytical materials for the parliamentary hearings “State, problems and prospects of cultural heritage protection in Ukraine”. Kyiv: Institute of History of Ukraine, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.
  10. Kot, S.I. (2020). Return and restitution of cultural values in the political and cultural life of Ukraine (XX – early XXI centuries). Kyiv: Institute of History of Ukraine, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.
  11. Kupriychuk, V.M. (2018). The role of national cultural heritage in the formation of Ukrainian identity. In V. Troshchynskyi (ed.), Formation of Ukrainian identity in the conditions of modern challenges: Theoretical and political aspects (pp. 78-106). Kyiv: National Academy of Public Administration under the President of Ukraine.
  12. Kurkov, A., & Puchkov, A. (2022). Treasures of Ukraine: A nation’s сultural heritage. London: Thames and Hudson.
  13. Lavigne, M., & Rowland, P. (1978). Scythian gold and the gold- standard: Soviet attitudes to gold and the international monetary system. Diogenes, 26(101-102), 26-49. doi: 10.1177/039219217802610102.
  14. Law of Ukraine No. 1805-III “On Protection of Cultural Heritage”. (2005, January). Retrieved from https://zakon.rada. gov.ua/laws/show/1805-14#Text.
  15. Looting and destruction of Ukrainian cultural sites a war crime. (2022). Retrieved from https://www.irishexaminer. com/world/arid-40979390.html.
  16. Mongiatti, A. (2018). Scythian gold under the microscope. Oxford: RersearchGate Royal Microscopical Society. doi: 10.22443/rms.inf.1.160.
  17. Nabok, S.V. (2016). Cultural values of Crimea and Donbas in conditions of war and occupation. Kyiv: Institute of History of Ukraine, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.
  18. Novosad, M.G., Bilous, S.I., Tereshkun, O.F., & Borysevich, L.V. (2022). Destruction of the cultural heritage of Ukraine in the conditions of war as a problem: Philosophical and cultural aspect. Educational discourse: A collection of scientific works, 39(1-3), 70,71. doi: 10.33930/ed.2019.5007.39(1-3)-5.
  19. Ozturk, M. (2018). Views on scythian historical sources. In Yücel Öztürk (ed.), Proceedings of the 1st Congress of International Eastern European Studies, 1(1), 529-541.
  20. Petrausskas, O.V., & Gorbanenko, S.A. (2014). Chernyakhiv culture: To the 120th anniversary of the birth of V.P. Petrov. Kyiv: Institute of Historical Education of NPU them. M.P. Drahomanov.
  21. Provisions of the UN Convention “On the legal immunity of the state and its property”. (2004). Retrieved from https:// ips.ligazakon.net/document/MU04277.
  22. Redfern, D.V. (2012). A study of scythian gold jewellery manufacturing technology and its comparison to greek techniques from the 7th to 5th Centuries BC. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports International Series.
  23. Reeder, E., Jacobson, E., & Treister, М. (2022). Scythian gold hardcover. London: Thames and Hudson.
  24. Russian “archaeological looting in Crimea: What is happening and how to stop it”. (2021). Retrieved from https:// qirim.news/po-polochkam-uk/rosijske-arheologichne-maroderstvo-v-krymu-shho-vidbuvayetsya-i-yak-zupynyty/.
  25. Scythian gold is at the heart of russia’s identity war. (2023). Retrieved from https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/01/19/scythian-gold-is-at-the-heart-of-russias-identity-war.
  26. SES service of the SES of Ukraine. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://mine.dsns.gov.ua.
  27. Sharkey, B. (2022). Predators and prey: Cosmological perspectivism in scythian animal style art. Faculty of History, 11(6), 120. doi: 10.3390/arts11060120.
  28. Strokova, L.V. (2016). The so-called “Scythian gold” from Crimean museums: the problem of returning Ukrainian cultural values from the Netherlands. In Valery Smoliy (ed.), Cultural values of Crimea and Donbas in conditions of war and occupation: Materials of the Round Table “Historical, cultural and scientific potential of the South and East of Ukraine in conditions of occupation and military actions: Threats, losses, prospects for preservation and restoration (pp. 39-41). Kyiv: Institute of History of Ukraine, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.
  29. The destroyed cultural heritage of Ukraine. (2023). Retrieved from https://culturecrimes.mkip.gov.ua/.
  30. The Ukrainian armed forces freed more than half of the territories captured by russia after February 24 (map). (2022). Retrieved from https://texty.org.ua/fragments/108229/zsu-zvilnyly-ponad-polovynu-terytorij-zahoplenyhrosiyeyu-pislya-24-lyutoho-karta/.
  31. Ukraine says russia looted ancient gold artifacts from a museum. (2022). Retrieved from https://www.nytimes. com/2022/04/30/world/europe/ukraine-scythia-gold-museum-russia.html.
  32. Ukraine’s museums keep watch over priceless gold in bid to halt russian looters. (2022). Retrieved from https://www. theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/18/ukraine-museums-scythian-gold-russian-looters-putin.
  33. UNESCO Convention No. 6673-XI “On the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage”. (1988, October). Retrieved from https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/995_089#Text.
  34. Van Oppen de Ruiter, B.F., & Chiara, С. (2022). Animals in ancient material cultures. Amsterdam: Centre for Ancient Studies and Archaeology, University of Amsterdam.
  35. Yatsiv, R.M. (2021). Cultural and artistic environment of the Ukrainian emigration in Warsaw (1919-1939): History, institutions, ideology of activity, creative heritage. Lviv: Institute of Ukrainian Studies named after I. Krypyakevych of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Institute of Ethnology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.

Suggested citation

Arlind, K. (2023). The return of historical monuments removed from the territory of Ukraine after 2014. Problems of archaeological research in times of war. Foreign Affairs, 33(3), 17-27. https://doi.org/10.46493/2663-2675.33(3).2023.17-27
English
Submit an article