Poland ready to accept for storage cultural valuables from Ukraine

Poland’s authorities are offering to accept movable cultural valuables from Ukraine amid the ongoing war.

Deputy Minister for Culture and National Heritage Jaroslaw Sellin spoke of the proposal on Radio Poland, Ukrinform reports.

"We have prepared warehouses in libraries and museum archives that are ready to receive mobile collections if the Ukrainians decide to evacuate them," Sellin said.

He noted that currently Ukrainians are reluctant to do so, trying to a large extent to transport cultural valuables to safer locations within Ukraine.

"However, it is known that there are not so many of these safer locations in Ukraine, since the Russian strikes target the entire territory of Ukraine," the deputy minister emphasized.

He noted that the paintings of artist Jacek Malczewski were taken from the Lviv Art Gallery for storage to the National Museum in Poznan, where they are now exhibited.

According to Sellin, since the onset of Russia's full-scale aggression, Poland has been actively helping Ukraine to preserve objects of cultural heritage, in particular by sending supplies to protect monuments, facades, churches, museums, etc. from explosions and fires.

"We also help Ukrainians to make an inventory of destroyed cultural objects. There are many sacred sites that were destroyed. We will help Ukrainians to rebuild these facilities when the war ends," Sellin emphasized.

Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine Oleksandr Tkachenko recently stated that more than 1,200 objects of cultural infrastructure had been damaged or destroyed in Ukraine as a result of Russian aggression.