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The year-long February...

We remember the fateful morning of February 24, 2022. Complete horror, uncertainty and suspense. No one knew what might happen to us, to the Museum, to the collection the next moment... Decisions were made here and now. No plans, even for tomorrow, were relevant.
We survived. We did not stop acting, moreover, during the Russo-Ukrainian war, we created a number of projects that tell about the latter.
On February 24, 2023, the anniversary of the full-scale attack, the project "Battle for Ukraine" was presented at the Latvian Military Museum in Riga.
The topic of the Russo-Ukrainian war is currently in the absolute center of public attention in Latvia. Demonstrations, public speeches, performances - the public draws attention to the need of supporting Ukraine and holding Russia accountable for the crimes committed. The opening of the museum exhibition "Battle for Ukraine" undoubtedly became a central event in the cultural life of the European country. Among the guests of the official presentation were Minister of Defense of Latvia Ināra Mūrniece, Commander of the National Armed Forces of Latvia Leonid Kalnynsh, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to Latvia Oleksandr Mishchenko, Embassy of Ukraine in Sweden, diplomats from 22 countries, media representatives, well-known public and cultural figures of Latvia.

The presentation was attended by friends of our Museum, who contribute in every possible way to the implementation of our projects in Sweden: the general director of the National Swedish Museum of Military History, Armémuseum Helene Rånlund, and the head of the restoration department of the National Archives of Sweden, Johanna Fries Markiewicz.
Andrzej Markiewicz, the author of the exhibited photographs, also came to the event, which was a great pleasure for us.
The creative team of the project was widely presented. The heads of the two partner museums addressed the guests of the event with speeches - the general director of the War Museum Yurii Savchuk, the curator of the project, and the director of Latvijas Kara muzejs/Latvian War Museum Kristine Skrivere, the author of the idea of the exhibition in Riga. They noted the importance of the joint position of the leading museums of Ukraine and Latvia on the informational and cultural front of the fight against Russian aggression.

"Battle for Ukraine" is the first exhibition of artifacts about the Russo-Ukrainian war in Europe and the world, presented outside of Ukraine. Its exhibits show the ugly face of the aggressor: military equipment, samples of ammunition, weapons, documents, household items, campaign materials. This total evil is opposed by the heroic Ukrainian Defenders. They are in the photos, in front of the visitor, and in fact, just at this moment - at the forefront.

The photos were taken during the museum expedition, which took place in July 2022 with the support of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Director General of the Museum Yurii Savchuk and museum photographer-volunteer from Stockholm Andrzej Markiewicz made a trip to the locations of military units. Being in the location of units in Kharkiv Oblast, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Mykolaiv Oblast, Odesa Oblast, and Kyiv Oblast, museum staff photographed servicemen of various units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

In the space of the exhibition, the first visitors have already seen brave Ukrainian defenders, who not only defend their native land, but also stand on guard for the security of Europe and the world. We invite everyone who is in Riga now or will be later to see everything live.

The very next day, we went to the opening of the exhibition "Ukraine-crucifixion. 365..." in Tallinn (Estonia). Read about the event on the museum’s Internet resources in our future publications.

The author of the idea - Kristine Skrivere

Curators - Yurii Savchuk, Yuris Tsyganovs

With the support of:

General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine / General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

Ministry of Defense of Latvia

Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine

Organizers:

National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War. Memorial complex

Latvian War Museum / Latvijas Kara muzejs

Logistics partner:

Nova Poshta