STATE AND PUBLIC INITIATIVES IN THE FIELD OF PRESERVATION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE IN THE CONDITIONS OF THE RUSSIANUKRAINIAN WAR: MASS MEDIA DISCOURSE 2014–2022

Abstract

The article analyzes the representation in the Ukrainian mass media discourse of the issues of the tasks and role of state bodies and public organizations in the field of preservation of cultural heritage from the beginning of the Rus-sian-Ukrainian war in 2014 to the full-scale aggression of the Russian Federa-tion against Ukraine in February 2022. The research methodology is based on the principles of historicism, scientificity, authorial objectivity, systematicity, as well as general scientific (analysis, synthesis, generalization) and special historical (historical-genetic, historical-comparative, historical-systemic, source criticism) methods. Scientific novelty: for the first time, the coverage of state and public initiatives by the Ukrainian media during the years of the Russian-Ukrainian war (before the start of the full-scale invasion) is analyzed. The study found that during the period under study, the Ukrainian media field was dominated by issues of public initiatives and visions in the field of preserving and developing culture in wartime. State initiatives in the field of preserving cultural heritage were not large enough and often did not have proper information support. Only the «Great Restoration» project, launched in 2021, attracted the attention of the media. Instead, public visions regarding the state of Ukrainian culture in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian war were much more often absorbed by the domestic media discourse. Therefore, considerations about the need to focus on projects that relate to specific cities, objects, artifacts, as well as the joint responsibility of the authorities and the public for the fate of culture became programmatic. At the same time, opinions were repeatedly expressed that the authorities were not doing enough to preserve, revive and develop Ukrainian culture.