People’s Deputy Solomiya Bobrovskaya today, December 5, on her Facebook page stated that the director of the National Museum of History of Ukraine Fyodor Androshchuk went on a business trip and did not return to Ukraine.
In a commentary to the publication UP.Kultura, Androshchuk explained on what grounds he was abroad and about his duties as director of the museum.
I am a citizen of Sweden, where I have lived permanently for almost twenty-five years and where I pay taxes. This gives me the unlimited right to be here and enjoy all the rights of an EU citizen,” he noted.
According to Androshchuk, his stay in Ukraine was temporary and was subject to a contract with the Ministry of Culture, “which each party has the right to terminate if it considers that the other party is not fulfilling its obligations.”
The Ministry was warned about my Swedish citizenship and knew that my home was there. Therefore, in fact, I am on a business trip not in Sweden, but in Ukraine. “I live permanently in Sweden, not in Ukraine,” he emphasized.
Androshchuk added that he submitted his resignation three months ago, along with a report on what the museum did during my tenure and what the Ukrainian state did not do.
According to him, the reason for resigning was the lack of opportunity to extend the duration of the business trip – it was necessary to extend it in order to carry out the scientific project “Sweden and Ukraine in the history of museum collections and exhibition narratives.”
It is Sweden that is supporting the project; it was within its borders that Androshchuk published the book “The Museum and the National Project.”
The National Museum of the History of Ukraine is my humanitarian aid to Ukraine. The fact that he works during the war, also earns money for the state and became famous in the world, is thanks not to Ukrainian, but to Swedish citizenship and my name,” the scientist said. “It was Sweden that came to the aid of the museum in the first days of the war, collected funds thanks to which the museum created an excellent exhibition “Pre-Christian Beliefs of Ukraine,” and also supports a number of other exhibition projects.
It is noted that the ministry did not respond to the proposal to “take passive participation” in the project and continue the business trip. According to Androshchuk, there was no response from the institution:
Therefore, I wrote a letter of resignation, where I indicated the reasons why I was leaving. Until this time, the Ministry has not formulated a decision, but my decision is clear.
It seems to me that I deserve some minimal thanks. However, after what individual deputies wrote about me, as well as bloggers with very strange views and those who sympathize with them, it will be difficult for me to find the desire to ever get involved with Ukrainian government institutions,” he added. “In general, it’s a little strange why such information is coming out right now, and it’s very unfortunate that it could undeservedly harm the museum.”
He noted that in addition to the museum he also has “other projects and obligations.”
There are many other ways to help Ukrainian culture. After almost five years of working in Ukraine, I know exactly who can’t be trusted and who should only be communicated with in the presence of lawyers, he noted.
He headed the National Museum of History of Ukraine in 2020. He is also a full member of the executive board of the European Association of Archaeologists since 2022. He is an archaeologist by training, a specialist in Scandinavian studies, and a Doctor of Historical Sciences.
Source: “UP.Kultura”
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.