Rinat Akhmetov Foundation signs a memorandum of understanding with the State Archival Service of Ukraine

A memorandum of understanding was signed in Kyiv between the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation and the State Archival Service of Ukraine. The aim is to coordinate and join efforts to professionally preserve the collected evidence of the war in Ukraine. Thanks to this cooperation, the unique archive of the Museum of Civilian Voices founded by the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation will become a key source for historical research both in Ukraine and abroad.

“We very much hope that together with the State Archival Service we will find a format of cooperation to contribute to the unified archive of the war. I really want private initiatives to contribute to preserving the memory of what we are going through now. Our big task is to make sure that these artefacts are turned into documents and that they work for the culture that is our collective memory”, said Natalia Yemchenko, member of the Supervisory Board of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation.

The State Archival Service of Ukraine noted the work of the Museum of Civilian Voices founded by the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation in preserving the history of the war. Cooperation between public and private initiatives will help preserve historical truth and form a collective memory for future generations.

“The full-scale invasion led to a full-scale response, with all archives joining in to collect such evidence: from audiovisual heritage, artistic works, diaries, newspapers to official documents. 

 Especially now, we need to unite again, because the world shows that Ukraine’s main hope lies with Ukrainians. And I think that each of you has something to say and something to pass on to the next generations,” said Anatolii Khromov, Head of the State Archival Service of Ukraine.
The Rinat Akhmetov Foundation and the State Archival Service of Ukraine have agreed to partner in various formats. It will be carried out through joint organisational events, information and image projects in online and offline formats, trainings, workshops, lectures, webinars and other educational events.

“The cooperation of the Museum of Civilian Voices founded by the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation with the State Archive is another important step to help bring the truth about the war in Ukraine to the whole world. At the beginning, we developed a highly effective system of collecting testimonies, which we are currently using. The Foundation’s professional team works every day to preserve every story. We have created a unique archive of human stories. These testimonies will help future generations to understand the scale of the tragedy experienced by Ukrainians and will also become indisputable evidence of war crimes”, said Iryna Blazhan, Chief Director of Programmes of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation.

The Museum of Civilian Voices is the world’s largest archive of testimonies and a source of truth about the war in Ukraine. The museum collects, stores and documents the stories of people affected by the war from 2014 to the present day. Its archive currently contains 130,000 stories.