The webinar provides an overview of Ukraine’s archival system, highlighting the role of the central state archives in preserving the nation’s documentary heritage. It examines how Ukrainian archives continue to operate during Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, focusing on the protection of archival holdings, wartime losses, institutional resilience, and international cooperation to safeguard cultural heritage. The webinar also considers the experience of Ukrainian archivists in responding to emergencies, documenting the war, and strengthening historical memory through archival records.

Participants will gain an introduction to the principles of archival arrangement and description in Ukraine, as well as the legal and practical framework for accessing archival documents and retrieving information.

Special attention is given to digitisation as a strategic priority for the archival sector. The presentation introduces the progress of digitisation initiatives, provides an overview of the Archival Information System (ARCHIUM) and the Inter-Archival Search Portal, and presents the electronic archival services that expand remote access to documentary resources.

It is designed for researchers, archivists, information professionals, students, and all those interested in learning more about Ukrainian archives and the opportunities to access and use their documentary and informational resources.

This lecture examines the work of the Central State Scientific and Technical Archives of Ukraine during Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine. It traces the changes across the archives’ principal areas of activity, driven by the need to safeguard documents, maintain institutional continuity, and widen access to archival information under wartime conditions. Particular attention is given to the development of digital archival resources: the digitisation of scientific and technical documentation, the creation of electronic catalogues and a collection of digital use copies, and the implementation of the TOPAZ information retrieval system. The lecture also outlines the international dimension of the archives’ work — cooperation with foreign archival, academic, and cultural institutions, participation in international projects and professional events, and the role of international charitable assistance in strengthening the institution’s material and technical capacity, acquiring modern digitisation equipment, and sustaining stable operations throughout the war.

A second focus falls on the archives’ cultural and educational projects. Drawing on two case studies — “Site of Resistance: Infrastructure Projects of the Azovstal Metallurgical Plant” and “Industrial Utopia: The Unrealised Project of the Kharkiv Nuclear Power Plant” — the lecture considers new approaches to using archival documents in exhibition, research, and public-facing work, including thematic web resources, documentary films, 3D models, and works of art created on the basis of archival holdings. It assesses how archival documentation can generate new forms of representing archival heritage: forms that invite a rethinking of Ukraine’s scientific and technical legacy, extend its presence in the public sphere, draw new audiences to the history of science, technology, and industry, and open fresh possibilities for communication between archives and society.

The lecture will be of interest to historians, archivists, researchers in the history of science and technology, students, and all those interested in Ukraine’s scientific, technical, and industrial heritage.

Founded in an age of profound upheaval, the Central State Archives of Supreme Bodies of Power and Government of Ukraine have preserved the memory of Ukraine’s struggle for statehood and independence across more than a century. The lecture traces the history of one of Ukraine’s principal archival repositories — from the 1917 proposal to establish a National Museum-Archive of War and Revolution to the present-day institution that preserves unique records relating to the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917–1921, the Soviet era, Ukrainian political emigration, and independent Ukraine.

The audience will discover the remarkable fate of the “Prague Archives”, the return of the records of the State Centre of the Ukrainian National Republic in Exile, and the preservation of original documents of exceptional importance to Ukrainian statehood, including the Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine and the Constitution of Ukraine. Particular attention will be devoted to the archives’ work during Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, the large-scale digitisation of records, open online access to millions of digital copies, and contemporary exhibition projects.

This is the story of an archive as an institution of historical memory, a testament to the continuity of Ukrainian statehood, and a guardian of the national identity of the Ukrainian people.

The lecture will be of interest to historians, archivists, researchers of Ukrainian statehood and the twentieth century, students, and all those interested in the documentary heritage of modern Ukraine.

This lecture is devoted to the Central State Audiovisual and Electronic Archives — a key centre for preserving Ukraine’s audiovisual documentary heritage — and to the opportunities it offers for research infrastructure and cultural participation. It will present the most representative “storylines” within the holdings of film, video, photographic, and phonographic documents, with an emphasis on their potential as sources for the history of Ukraine and of its cultural, scholarly, and social life, its international relations, and more.

The lecture will also introduce the current development of the holdings in the context of documenting Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, together with their preservation and promotion.

Participants will learn about the archives’ digital infrastructure, which provides users with remote access to documents. The lecture will consider the capabilities of the electronic catalogue, the procedures for ordering archival documents and obtaining copies, and the particulars of interacting with the archives electronically. Particular attention will be given to the legal aspects of using archival documents for researchers and for academic and cultural institutions.

The lecture will be of interest to historians, archivists, cultural theorists, media scholars, teachers, students, and all who work with the documentary heritage of Central and Eastern Europe. It will contribute to the “opening up” of Ukrainian archival holdings to the international scholarly community, and thereby to the integration of Ukraine’s audiovisual heritage into the wider scholarly and cultural world.

The Central State Historical Archives of Ukraine in Lviv (TsDIAL of Ukraine) was founded in 1784 as the Imperial-Royal Office of Ancient Galician Castle and Land Acts and Corroboration of Documents. It has also long been known as the Bernardine Archives, after its location in the buildings of the Bernardine Monastery (1600–1630; 3a Soborna Square), an architectural monument of national significance and part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. A further part of the archives is housed in the Royal Arsenal (1638–1650; 13 Pidvalna Street). Today TsDIAL of Ukraine holds more than 1,120,000 files dating from the early twelfth to the twenty-first century, among them 331 documents designated as unique. Despite martial law, the archives have continued to operate from the first day of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, fulfilling one of their core functions: safeguarding their documentary and irreplaceable historical heritage.

One of the archives’ key fonds is the Collection of Parchment Charters (fond 131), which preserves birchbark documents from the early twelfth century, together with international agreements, papal bulls, and privileges granted by patriarchs, monarchs, and other authorities. The fond has been digitised in full and is available through ARCHIUM.

The archives maintain an official website (https://tsdial.archives.gov.ua/index.html), pages on Facebook and Instagram, and a dedicated YouTube channel. Digital copies are published on the archives’ website, on ARCHIUM, and on the sites of international partners, notably FamilySearch International. Documents can be located remotely through the Inter-Archival Search Portal, ARCHIUM, and the FamilySearch website, as well as via the “E-archive” section of the archives’ website. The archives also respond to enquiries from users in Ukraine and abroad.

The lecture will be of interest to historians, genealogists, archivists, medievalists, students, and all those researching the history of Ukraine and of Central and Eastern Europe.

This lecture offers a comprehensive analysis, grounded in history and source studies, of the informational potential of the holdings of the Central State Archives of Public Organisations and Ukrainica (TsDAHOU). It examines the archives’ principal documentary complexes reflecting the socio-political history of Ukraine in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries — in particular the records of political parties, civic movements, and associations at the national level, as well as the body of foreign Ukrainica: documents removed abroad at various times or created by the Ukrainian diaspora. Closer attention will be given to individual fonds that are in considerable demand among researchers today, among them the criminal case files of those persecuted under the Stalinist totalitarian regime. The uniqueness of the documentary heritage held at TsDAHOU will be highlighted through the example of records inscribed in the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme.

Particular attention will be devoted to methods of locating archival information remotely through the archives’ extensive electronic resources. The lecture will also address the integration of digitised content into a range of information platforms and archival search projects, such as the “Ukrainian Martyrology of the Twentieth Century”.

The lecture will further acquaint the audience with a recent initiative for the continued development of the archival holdings: the creation, on the basis of TsDAHOU, of a documentary collection titled “Archive of Ukraine’s War of Independence”. This project is aimed at the systematic collection, verification, and preservation of documentary evidence of Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine, in cooperation with human rights, media, and international organisations.

The lecture will be of interest to historians, archivists, political scientists, researchers of twentieth-century repression, of political parties and civic movements, and of the Ukrainian diaspora, students, and all those working with the documentary heritage of Central and Eastern Europe.

Founded in 1966, the Central State Archives Museum of Literature and Art of Ukraine (TsDAMLM of Ukraine) is a leading archival and museum institution. It preserves the personal fonds of prominent figures in Ukrainian literature, fine art, music, and theatre; the documentary heritage of cultural institutions of national significance; museum objects that belonged to writers and artists; and printed editions. Its 1,450 fonds currently comprise 325,625 items, 13,406 museum objects, and some 203,000 printed editions.

The principal challenges of Ukraine’s War of Independence have been the threat to the preservation of the holdings and to the safety of staff. Despite these conditions, the Archives Museum continues to operate — safeguarding its documents and handling public enquiries both in the reading room and online. Scanning documents and publishing them through the institution’s online resource, the Integrated Information System of TsDAMLM of Ukraine, forms an important part of this work. Its principal digital partners are FamilySearch International (USA) and Digital Transitions (USA).

The institution is assembling, with particular reverence and a sense of responsibility, a collection documenting Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine — a chronicle of the Ukrainian people’s struggle and resilience. Documents from its holdings relating to the tragedy of Babyn Yar and to the Chornobyl nuclear disaster have been inscribed in the International Register of the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme.

Ukraine is today undergoing a significant cultural resurgence, in which art, history, and publishing serve as instruments of resistance, of preserving identity, and of international dialogue. The Archives Museum takes an active part in these processes: it develops exhibition projects, lends documents for display, conducts educational work, and documents the contemporary creative movement, preserving the testimony of the age for future generations.

The lecture will be of interest to literary scholars, art and theatre historians, archivists, curators, students, and all those interested in Ukrainian culture and its documentary heritage.