“Five days in danger: the evacuation of the museum collection from Khortytsia in the first days of the invasion is a feat…”

Khortytsia Island has been closed for visitors since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. The National Reserve was probably the first in the country to evacuate its museum collections. The assembling and dismantling of exhibitions began even before the invasion – on 23 February. Museum collection attendants, researchers, and restorers did everything possible to evacuate the most valuable exhibits urgently. In just a few days, a truck fully loaded with the most valuable items of historical and cultural heritage left for the west of Ukraine. 

It was an absolutely unique experience, since all the existing guidelines to be followed in case of such threats cannot predict all the challenges of the new reality.

Svitlana Okhrymenko, deputy general director for scientific work of Khortytsia National Reserve, talks about how the museum lives during the war, about some irreparable losses, about their work under shelling and missile attacks, and the museum’s plans for the near future.