On October 16–17, a two-day Nationwide Academic Forum was held, dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. The event was organized in partnership with:
- Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv;
- National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War;
- Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance;
- Institute of History of Ukraine of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine;
- Ivan Franko National University of Lviv;
- National Museum of the History of Ukraine.
The opening of the forum and the plenary session took place within the walls of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. Rector Volodymyr Buhrov delivered a welcoming speech. He emphasized that the aim of the event is to consolidate academics, educators, and state institutions to shape a modern historical narrative, establish a shared trajectory for researching the Second World War, and search for new ways of dialogue between the academic community and society.
Yurii Savchuk, Director General of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War, stressed in his introductory remarks that although 80 years is sufficient time to study the greatest conflict of the 20th century, for most of this period Ukrainian historiography followed Soviet – and later russian – narratives. Today, however, we have the opportunity to construct a Ukrainian vision of the Second World War, and this event represents another step toward fulfilling this mission faced by the entire academic community.
Also invited to speak were: Volodymyr Tylishchak – Deputy Head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance; Ruslan Siromskyi – Dean of the Faculty of History at Ivan Franko National University of Lviv; Myroslav Borysenko – Doctor of Historical Sciences, officer of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The opening of the forum was moderated by acting Dean of the Faculty of History at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and event organizer, Taras Pshenychnyi.
Yurii Savchuk participated in the first panel discussion of the forum, presenting the experience of rethinking the history of the Second World War through the museum’s research, exhibition, publishing, educational, and international activities. In particular, he referenced the exhibition “Our Victory,” implemented in 2025. One of the conceptual notions used by the museum team in this project was the definition “defeated victors,” which simultaneously reflects both the heroism and the tragedy of the Ukrainian experience in the Second World War.
On October 17, the second day of the Nationwide Academic Forum took place at the War Museum. The forum’s third and fourth discussion panels were held. Both discussions were moderated by museum scholar Roman Kabachii.
Head of the Department of Ukrainian History of the Second World War at the Institute of History of Ukraine of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Professor Oleksandr Lysenko, and museum researcher Yana Hrynko joined the panel dedicated to the instrumentalization of the history of the Second World War by russian propaganda amid the aggressive wars pursued by the russian Federation. Deputy Director General for Research, Dmytro Hainetdinov, delivered a presentation during the concluding panel, which addressed the presence of Second World War themes in Ukraine’s public space.
The event served as a platform for professional dialogue among historians, museum specialists, and representatives of state institutions regarding the reinterpretation of the Second World War experience through the prism of contemporary challenges.
The discussions demonstrated that the events of the past have a direct impact on the present, and that understanding the history of the war, its narratives, and forms of commemoration is a matter of strategic importance amid the current struggle of the Ukrainian people for freedom.
