The Ukrainian Archives, War, and Preservation of National Identity

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to show the history of Ukrainian archives development in the 20th and 21st centuries in the context of national statehood processes and the struggle for Ukraine’s independence; to determine challenges that threatened archives during the First and Second world wars, related to destruction, seizure, and transferring of document collections. The author pays special attention to the analysis of Ukrainian archivists’ role in preserving national historical and cultural heritage during the Russia-Ukraine war of 2014–2022. The article is based on implementing the approaches of historicism and objectivity and general scientifi c methods – historical and logical – with intrinsic analysis, synthesis, and the systemic approach. The author used historical-genetical, comparative historical, and retrospective methods. The scientifi c novelty of the article lies in analyzing the importance of archives and national archival resources for preserving national identity in the war period. Conclusions. Ukrainian archives transformed into open institutions in the process of building the independent state; they demonstrate leading tendencies of Ukrainian societal development in their activity, actively participating in democratization and decommunization processes, as well as providing the source base for scientifi c studies. Archives have particularly acute importance in the war period – both in full-scale military aggression and hybrid information confrontation. During the war, archives achieved signifi cance due to their informational, administrative, operational, historical, cultural, and scientifi c value. Russian military aggression against Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty created the threat to preserving national cultural and, also, archival heritage. Nowadays, important tasks in front of archivists include preserving documents of the National Archival Fond and creating new archival collections that would accumulate documentary evidence on the Ukrainian nation’s heroic struggle against the Russian aggressor, thus, establishing the source base for scientifi c research of war events and contributing to the preservation of collective memory and national identity. References: Anatolii Khromov: na Chernihivschyni znyscheno arkhiv SBU z dokumentamy, yaki stosuvalysia represii radianskoho rezhymu proty ukraintsiv [Anatolii Khromov: the SBU archives in the Chernihiv regions with documents related to repressions of the Soviet regime against Ukrainians was destroyed]. Ministerstvo yustytsii Ukrainy. Retrieved from https://minjust.gov.ua/news/ministry/anatoliy-hromov-na-chernigivschini-znischeno-arhiv-sbu-z-dokumentami-yaki-stosuvalisya-represiy-radyanskogo-rejimu-proti-ukraintsiv Barnickel, L. (1999). 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