A blow to cultural heritage: director of Mykolaiv theater tells how actors live now

In September 2022, the Mykolaiv Drama Theater became another civilian facility in Mykolaiv that was hit by the Russian army. The director and artistic director of the theater, Artem Svystun, spoke about the consequences of the missile attack and the life of the theater under enemy fire.

This is one of the stories recorded by documenters of the Odesa regional organization of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine, who, together with partners, collect evidence of Russian war crimes as part of the global initiative "Tribunal for Putin."

It should be noted that on February 24, the theater was called the Mykolaiv Academic Artistic Dramatic Russian Theater, but during the Russian aggression, the name was changed by the decision of the regional council.

On February 22, we were preparing a performance for the Mother Language Day, and it was already tense. And when the first explosions occurred, we realized that a full-scale war had begun. We canceled all events at the theater. For the first two weeks, we spent the night in the theater to save the building and help those actors who went to war. We started volunteering to support them. We sewed buffs, balaclavas, raincoats, flags," says the director.

He adds that later the actors started touring again. "They created creative programs to support both the townspeople and the IDPs. Some of the employees and their children were sent to Bulgaria, to Gabrovo, where they were hosted by the Gabrovo Theater, and they are still there and continue to work.

In Mykolaiv, we continued our outreach projects, and as a result of our creative activity, we opened a stage in a shelter on Ukraine's Independence Day, thanks to a grant. This is a unique location. In frontline Mykolaiv, creative life did not stop, and the Philharmonic continues to hold performances and concert programs, film screenings... The theater lives, creates projects, and continues to work. We realized that the aggressor country was destroying cultural and educational institutions," comments Artem Svystun.

According to the expert of the Odesa CVU, lawyer Yulia Lisova, the Geneva Conventions governing the rules of conduct in military conflicts explicitly prohibit the attack on civilian objects and architectural monuments, which in this case is the theater.

She explains that this act on the part of the Russian army is a gross violation of the rules of warfare and, accordingly, an international war crime. According to the Rome Statute, this crime can be prosecuted by the International Criminal Court. Liability for war crimes is also provided for at the national level - Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

Yulia argues that this case may also be subject to consideration by Ukrainian courts.

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The publication was prepared by the Odesa regional organization of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine in cooperation with the Mykolaiv Research and Analysis Center as part of the global initiative "Putin's Tribunal".

Тетяна Каптур