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How culture becomes a weapon?: Lessons from Russia’s War on Ukraine
March 6, 2025 @ 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
THIS EVENT IS OPEN TO THE LSE COMMUNITY ONLY. A VALID LSE ID WILL BE REQUIRED FOR ENTRY. PLEASE NOTE THAT BOOKING A TICKET DOES NOT GUARANTEE ADMISSION. TO ENSURE YOUR PLACE, WE ADVISE ARRIVING EARLY.
The Russian Federation’s intervention in Ukraine, which commenced in 2014, escalated into full-scale armed conflict in 2022. Russian attacks on Ukrainian territory have not been limited to military objectives but also extend to civilian infrastructure. Beyond road bridges and power stations, Russia has also targeted publishing houses, libraries, and museums, and other places of cultural significance. In this, Russia’s actions fit within a broader long-term weaponization of culture in the service of a political narrative that questions Ukrainian national identity and statehood. The current active campaign against the culture of the Ukrainian people highlights longstanding concerns for the protection of culture and heritage in war.
The panel will discuss the complexities of cultural heritage, from the perspective of a variety of relevant actors in the current conflict, including military, the public, and international partners. The panel will examine the question of war crimes against heritage objects, including the deliberate targeting of heritage and looting. The speakers will explain how objects of cultural significance are invoked to justify and legitimate violence, to the point of providing a rhetorical justification for war. The panel will address the broader questions raised by cultural heritage in conflict narratives as well as the distinctive Ukrainian cultural viewpoint emerging from its fight for independence and freedom.
Speakers:
Lieutenant Colonel Timothy Purbrick – Military Cultural Property Protection Consultant at Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
Kristin Hausler – k.hausler@biicl.org – Dorset Senior Research Fellow in Public International Law and Director, Centre for International Law at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law
Iryna Odrekhivska – i.odrekhivska@ucl.ac.uk – Lecturer in Ukrainian and East European Culture, School of Slavonic and East European Studies at University College London
Chair: David Kershaw – Dean of LSE Law School, Professor of Law
This event is jointly organised by LSE Law School and LSE Lawyers Without Borders