MONUMENT PRESERVATION PROGRAMS IN UKRAINE IN 1991–2021: CONTENT AND IMPLEMENTATION

Abstract

The article highlights the content of monument preservation programs implemented in Ukraine since the early 1990s, and some of them carried out in the XXI century. It draws attention to creating new and reorganizing historical-cultural and historicalarchitectural reserves, functioning at present, and reproducing lost architectural monuments. The article characterizes research programs related to the monuments of Ukrainian Cossacks, the study of necropolises, such as military burials of the XX century, and fixing the objects of cultural heritage at the territories affected by the Chernobyl catastrophe. The paper demonstrates that the irreparable loss of immovable monuments caused by the 1986 catastrophe led to implementing activities to save objects with significant historical and artistic value. The authorities focus on practical preservation and presentation of monuments, which should not remain without proper state care, even in the most arduous decades. The article analyzes programs related to the proper presentation of Ukrainian cultural heritage in the UNESCO World Heritage List, preparing the multi-volume encyclopedic edition “Collection of Historical and Cultural Monuments of Ukraine.” In particular, the paper draws attention to the urgent need to protect the monuments presented in this publication. Modern monument preservation programs include the Great Restoration project, implemented within the national “Great Construction” program, initiated by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky on August 18, 2020. It emphasizes the need for monument preservation measures as a significant component of Ukraine’s cultural heritage preservation activities.