Joint statement by Ukraine, Poland, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia delivered at the joint stakeout at the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia on 6 May 2026 by Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for Humanitarian Policy – Minister of Culture Tetyana Berezhna.
"The 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia opens against the backdrop of an ongoing Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine – one that is deliberately targeting not only Ukrainian lives, but Ukrainian culture, identity, and memory. This context demands a clear response.
Hundreds of Ukrainian artists have been killed. Thousands of cultural heritage sites and infrastructure facilities have been damaged or destroyed. These losses extend beyond physical destruction, they reflect Russia's deliberate campaign to silence artistic voices and erase Ukrainian cultural identity, particularly in the territory of Ukraine temporarily occupied by Russian occupation. Now in the fifth year of Russia's full-scale military invasion and the thirteenth year of its aggression against Ukraine, these actions constitute a flagrant violation of the fundamental norms of international law, in particular purposes and principles of the UN Charter.
We condemn in the strongest terms the atrocities committed during Russia's war of aggression – systematic attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, and the deliberate destruction of Ukraine's cultural heritage and historical memory. These are not collateral damage. They are war crimes, and they must be met with full and effective accountability.
We call on the Russian Federation to immediately end its war of aggression against Ukraine and engage in genuine efforts of the international community toward restoration of a comprehensive, just and lasting peace that fully respects Ukraine's sovereignty, territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders, including territorial sea, and the rights of its people.
We reaffirm our commitment to the European and international sanctions imposed on Russia in response to its war of aggression against Ukraine. Participation in prestigious international cultural events is not exempt from this logic. On the contrary, it is precisely such platforms that must not be used to circumvent the political and moral consequences of Russia's actions.
In this regard, we call for the imposition of targeted restrictive measures against individuals, including cultural figures and officials, who openly support Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine or are actively involved in state propaganda efforts.
We reiterate our collective support for Ukraine's independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders, including territorial sea.
We stand in unwavering solidarity with the Ukrainian people, including Ukrainian artists, who continue to resist Russia's illegal, unprovoked and unjustified full-scale military invasion and to defend not only their freedom, but their right to exist as a distinct culture and civilization.
Russia's systematic efforts to erase Ukraine's cultural identity are not incidental to its war, they are central to it. Culture is inseparable from the realities in which societies live. The values of freedom, human dignity, and democracy that underpin the global artistic community are the same values that Russia's aggression seeks to destroy. A state waging a war of aggression cannot present itself as a representative of culture.
We reaffirm our support for artistic freedom and freedom of expression. But these freedoms must not be instrumentalized to whitewash state crimes or to confer legitimacy upon aggression. The aggressor cannot be rewarded with participation in the world's most prestigious cultural events, including the Venice Biennale, while it continues its brutal war and has yet to compensate for the damages caused by its internationally wrongful acts.
The Venice Biennale has long stood as a testament to the power of art to transcend borders and affirm our shared humanity. That vision is incompatible with the presence of a state that is systematically destroying the culture, heritage, and lives of an entire nation. We stand with Ukraine and its people, its artists, and its future. And we call on all members of the international community to do the same."
