Ukraine has Raised $1.3M in NFT Sales to Help Rebuild Damaged Cultural Institutions

The Ukrainian government plans to use the sale of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to restore cultural institutions that have been damaged during the Russian invasion in the Ukraine, according to an announcement Friday. 

Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture and Information policy said the government’s Met History Museum of War platform has raised roughly $1.3 million worth of Ether through NFT sales, which will help fund the restoration of cultural institutions. 

Meta History was created a month after the start of the Russian invasion, in an effort to preserve the timeline of major events in Russia’s war with Ukraine. Therefore, the NFTs that the Met History Museum of War sells feature digital art that chronologically highlights every major event in the war. 

"During the six months of the war in Ukraine, the Russians destroyed hundreds of our museums, theaters and cultural institutions,” said Oleksandr Tkachenko, Ukraine’s Minister of Culture and Information Policy. “Ukrainian culture and national heritage have been damaged by almost 6 billion euros, and judging by the actions and intentions of the Russian Federation, this figure will only increase.”

On Monday, UNESCO, the agency that names world heritage sites based on their history, nature and art, reported that 164 cultural sites in Ukraine have been partially damaged or destroyed since the start of the invasion. Among these are 72 religious sites, 12 museums, 32 historic buildings, 24 buildings for cultural activities, 17 monuments and seven libraries. 

Since the beginning of the war, Ukraine’s government has raised more than $100 million in crypto donations, according to Alex Bornyakov, Ukraine’s deputy minister at the Ministry of Digital Transformation and the de facto crypto spokesperson of the government. 

Author: Tyler Irvin

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