On September 20, Oleksandr Tkachenko, Minister of Culture and Information Policy, visited the city of Izium in Kharkiv region, which was badly affected by russia’s armed aggression. Thanks to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, on September 10, the yellow-blue flag of Ukraine flew there again.
“Izium is a pain point of Ukraine… During the siege of the city in March, Izium was actually turned into a burning ground. A school that stood in the center of the city for 140 years and withstood the Second World War, a library, a music school – totally destroyed… It’s probably easier to list the buildings that didn’t burn down, that weren’t destroyed, than those that are barely suitable for living today. Courageous employees of the Museum of Local Lore were able to save the entire collection and exhibits, but the roof of the building was damaged,” Oleksandr Tkachenko said.
Currently, the city is left without electricity, heat, water, demining continues. The number of victims among the civilian population is being specified, but we are talking about hundreds of people. Fighting continues in Kharkiv region, explosions are constantly heard.
“We met with volunteers, including French and Italian, who brought humanitarian aid, which is delivered here by the Ukrainian authorities on a daily basis. The city is beginning to come to its senses. It takes a lot of effort to restore the city. Life must return here. I brought Ukrainian books to the community and a newly printed edition of the newspaper “Obrii Iziumshchyna”. Let’s restore Ukrainian broadcasting. We will deal with urgent conservation and repair needs of cultural institutions before the winter period. But weapons are needed above all else to drive out the enemy over the horizon,” the Minister said.
During the visit to Kharkiv region, Oleksandr Tkachenko, together with Izium Mayor Valerii Marchenko, visited and toured the city of Izium: the “Suchasnyk” cultural center, the Izium Museum of Local Lore named after M.V. Sibilova, the specialized art education institution of the Izium City Council “Izium Music School”, cultural and leisure complex “Spartak”, the Central City Library and the City Children’s Library, the communal institution of specialized art education of the Izium City Council “Izium Art School named after S.I. Vasylkivskyi” , as well as the City Palace of Culture.
