Since 2022, Russia’s imperialist aggression has not only aimed to illegally annex Ukrainian territory. It has also targeted Ukraine’s identity, its language, and its culture.
Russia has systematically bombed libraries, theaters, cinemas, museums, and opera houses. Many historical monuments and cultural buildings have been damaged or destroyed. In occupied territories, the Ukrainian language is banned.
This is a war against collective memory, against freedom of expression, and against a people’s right to exist.
In February 2025, Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture and Information Policy announced that 149 Ukrainian artists have been killed since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Among them: photographer Iryna Tsvila, graphic artist Serhiy Pushchenko, actors Pavlo Li, Roman Filonov, and Pavlo Yeremenko, National Opera soloist Artem Dotsyshyn, novelist Victoria Amelina, young poet and soldier Maksym Kryvtsov, and conductor Kostiantyn Starovytskyi, who died on the front lines—and so many others.
Volodymyr Vakulenko was one of them. A poet and children’s author, he was abducted and executed during the occupation of the Kharkiv region three years ago. He was 49. Author of thirteen books and recipient of the Oles Ulianenko Literary Prize and the Martovych competition, his only “crime” was being a Ukrainian patriot.
Volodymyr Vakulenko represents a generation of artists murdered for defending their freedom and their culture.
We will continue to keep their voices alive, to share their work, and to honor their memory.
At a time when the Russian aggressor is trying to erase Ukraine from maps and minds, cultural resistance is more necessary than ever.
