Ukraine
Culture under fire: The world has to help Kyiv resist Moscow with bombs and books
Russia’s war against Ukraine is also a war against the country’s culture: since 2022, thousands of Ukrainian cultural institutions have been deliberately targeted. In the face of destruction, Ukraine’s cultural scene is responding with an unprecedented surge of creative productivity. Culture is not a side issue, but a bulwark, says Julia Teek from our Ukraine team, arguing that international support for Ukraine should place a stronger focus on culture.
In the shadow of continued Russian attacks, the Ukrainian cities of Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Chernivtsi, Odesa, and Mykolaiv are hosting a string literature festival, with support from the Robert Bosch Stiftung. More than 3,300 civilians have been killed in these five cities in the past two and a half years — including two in far-western Chernivtsi, which until recently had been considered safe. And yet the people who remain crave poetry and prose.
It is against this backdrop that Julia Teek from our Ukraine team sets out her argument: culture in Ukraine is not a side issue but a line of defense — and it needs stronger support.
Read the full article in the magazine Alliance – For philanthropy and social investment worldwide.
In this dossier, we tell the stories of people in Ukraine whom we support. Our engagement in the country looks to the future: for a strong Ukraine within Europe.