"Displays inside glorify the current full-scale invasion and tie its goals to the Soviet Union's victory in the Second World War. Speaking at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on 29 November, the Russian senator Vladimir Yakushev said: "Both in the period of the Great Patriotic War and in our day, unfortunately Nazism and neo-Nazism exist on our planet." His words echo those of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has repeatedly levelled charges of "Nazism" against Ukraine's leaders."
"Yakushev was accompanied by Sergei Ladochkin of the state-sponsored advisory body the Russian Civic Chamber, who headed up the museum project. Ladochkin told Russia's state-owned news agency that the site of the museum, a former innovation hub, is symbolic because it once housed the offices of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's Servant of the People party. According to Tass, the museum was restored with the support of Putin's ruling United Russia party."
A new museum has opened in Mariupol, a city occupied by Russian forces since 2022 following a months-long siege. The space, officially called Pole Bitvy (Battlefield), is described by Russian state media as an "interactive art facility" and contains displays that glorify the full-scale invasion while linking its goals to the Soviet Union's victory in the Second World War. A ribbon-cutting on 29 November included comments by Senator Vladimir Yakushev condemning Nazism and neo-Nazism. Sergei Ladochkin of the Russian Civic Chamber led the project and said the site is symbolic because it once housed offices of Zelensky's Servant of the People; restoration reportedly had United Russia support. The museum contains over ten themed areas including a photo gallery for invading soldiers, an exhibit on children of Donbas who perished, and letters from relatives of those involved in the "special operation"; an advisor to Mariupol's pre-invasion mayor warned of the triggering and PTSD effects.
Read at The Art Newspaper - International art news and events
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