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Tuesday, November 20, 2007


Newspaper Archives ‘Disappeared’ at Ukrainian Library in Moscow

The Ukrainians of Moscow, a diaspora organization, deplores the disappearance of a unique collection of Ukrainian press mostly dating from 1988 to 2006, Ukrayinska Pravda reports.

According to the UM, early on Monday, library director Natalia Sharina and her deputy loaded the archives on a truck. The archives included Holos Ukrayiny, Demokratychna Ukrayina, Uryadovy Kuryer, 2000, Den, Dzerkalo Tyzhnya, Literaturna Ukrayina, Kultura i Zhyttya, and even some rare 19th-century papers.

The entire collection was then whisked off, destination unknown.
This occurred without proper procedure, and before library staff came to work. No explanation was given.

Earlier, the Ukrainians of Moscow had appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin to prevent local authorities from closing the library. Following the Monday episode, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko wrote a letter of his own.

Sources:
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2007/11/20/67071.htm
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2007/11/21/67143.htm
Image uploaded from: http://www.belt-wrestling.org/en/images/news/Kremlin_russia.jpg

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Okay - call me a dreamer and optimist, but I think/hope that it will be discovered that the Director and Deputy Director whisked off the archive to protect it. As the Ukrainian library in Moscow will be eventually closed or slated to erupt into a 'mysterious' fire during the middle of the night. The library has been under threat for awhile. (see refutations from Ru Fed Embassy)
http://www.ukranews.com/eng
/article/76899.html

Well time will tell wherein the truth lies.

Luida

Taras said...

That’s not a very unlikely scenario, Luida.

There is, of course, the possibility of an elaborate “false alarm” game. But notice how this report speaks in general terms. The Russian Embassy says nothing about the archive’s whereabouts. So, until proven otherwise, I assume the papers were evacuated for pulping.