Robinson Patman law firm, in partnership with the Deputy Head of International Law at UK-based 33 Bedford Row, Haydee Dijkstal, and Pro Bono Legal Services Lead at A4ID, Joe Tan, advised Okhtyrka City Museum of Local Lore and Chernihiv Regional Art Museum named after Hryhorii Galagan on submitting to the ICC communications on crimes against Ukrainian cultural heritage committed by russia.
The advise was a part of our continuing to provide pro bono advice and fundraising support to cultural institutions in Ukraine suffered from russian military aggression. Okhtyrka City Museum and Art Museum named after Galagan host over 20 thousands of artworks, including those of high cultural significance to Ukraine and the world, and both museums were damaged by russian missile attacks at the early stage of the invasion. The work focused on advising the Museums on avenues for legal redress and commenting to the ICC on crimes committed by russia, and included documenting evidences, assistance to Museums workers with drafting witness statements, communicating with experts. This has been accumulated in communications to the ICC on crimes against Ukrainian cultural heritage committed by russia.
A Robinson Patman team working on the project included Dmytro Vidsota (Partner), Nadiia Dmytrenko (Partner), Anna Kononenko (Associate), and Sofia Nuzhna (Junior Associate).
Nadiia Dmytrenko, Partner of the Pro Bono practice at Robinson Patman, commented: "While working with Ukrainian cultural institutions, our team has greatly widen the vision of culture and arts as an integral part of Ukrainians. Sadly that lots of Ukrainian cultural heritage sites and cultural institutions have fallen victim to russian attacks, and the number is rising. Our country has not faced such a scale of crimes against cultural heritage since World War II. As lawyers, we are obliged to held russia liable for its non-human actions!".
