Ukraine's Minister of Culture admits possibility of cooperating with "useful Russians"
Oleksandr Tkachenko, Ukraine's Minister of Culture and Information Policy, admitted the possibility of cooperation with the Russians after the end of the Russian-Ukrainian war.
Source: He said this in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
In the interview, Tkachenko said that cooperation with "useful Russians" after the end of the war is possible. "These are not ‘good Russians’, because there are no good Russians, but 'useful Russians’ – they are there, and they openly express their position. These are artists, writers, and in the future some kind of cooperation with them is a completely normal, logical process, because they share the values that Ukrainian society shares. In particular, freedoms, non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries, critical view of Putin. Therefore, the possibility of further cooperation is understandable," the minister said.
When asked whether the state would somehow limit the activities of Russian artists in Ukraine, including those cultural figures who took a neutral position, Tkachenko answered as follows:
"There were a lot of questions at the discussion stage. How's that? By what parameters do we make a list of the ‘silent ones’ [Russian public figures who remained neutral and did not voice opposition to the war in Ukraine – ed.]? Did this one wait a long time [to protest the war – ed.], or was it not too long? Can this one enter [Ukraine – ed.] or not? That is, it is a rather post-Soviet system of thinking. There are legislative regulatory mechanisms, or sanctions. If it’s something else, it is the work of civil society, of the ministry with promoter companies that are involved in bringing these artists, explanatory work in the informational plane. In particular, there is a huge number of artists who came here during the war, who performed here in the subway, and do not [represent – ed.], so to speak, the ‘great Russian world’."
In addition, in the same interview Tkachenko said that from the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the Russians caused damage to the sphere of Ukrainian culture worth almost USD7 billion.
As of 18 April, as a result of Russian aggression in Ukraine, more than 550 cultural objects were destroyed or damaged.
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