Archives at War: The SBU Archives during the Russu-Ukrainian War
Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has had devastating effects, with over six million Ukrainians becoming refugees and tens of thousands of civilians have been killed by Russian troops, although these figures are likely underestimates. The Russian war has not only affected individuals but also targeted cultural institutions, making culture and history a battleground in the war against Ukrainian identity. The history of the Soviet Union and its interpretation have been weaponized to legitimize Moscow's aspirations of reviving the Russian empire. This includes Ukrainian archives, which have suffered from burning, shelling, theft, and relocation since the war onset in 2014.
The full-scale invasion has also highlighted the importance of decolonization efforts, particularly in accessing archives critical to understanding and deconstructing imperial narratives. The KGB archives, kept in the SBU Archives in Ukraine, play a pivotal role in this discourse.
Dr. Andriy Kohut, Director of the Archive, will discuss the war's impact on archival work, the challenges faced by archivists, and the broader implications for the archival institution during this tumultuous period.
Dr. Andriy Kohut is a Director of the Sectoral State Archive of the Security Service of Ukraine. The Archive stores the most extensive collection of declassified KGB files. He received his Ph.D. in History from the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and his M.A. in History from Ivan Franko Lviv National University. He had to suspend his 2021-2022 Fulbright Fellowship at Stanford University at the beginning of March 2022 because of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. His recent articles have focused on the Soviet deportation operation "West" ("Запад"), postal censorship by the KGB, and clandestine espionage on foreign diplomats in Soviet Ukraine. His academic and professional interests cover various topics related to Soviet deportations, communist secret services history, memory politics, and cultural diplomacy.