As Russia continues its systematic destruction of Ukraine’s cultural heritage amid the full-scale war, Ukraine’s art community is turning to innovative, sometimes unconventional methods to preserve the nation’s legacy—prominently including blockchain technology. Launched officially in February 2025, the Ukrainian Fund of Digitized Art (UFDA) was created with a bold mission: to digitize Ukrainian art and convert works into non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to be auctioned. The UFDA seeks not only to preserve and disseminate Ukraine’s cultural heritage but also “to engage the global community in the fight for cultural preservation, ” as stated on its website. To date, the UFDA has digitized over 3, 000 pieces by 60 artists, spanning contemporary and classical Ukrainian art. The organization collaborates closely with artists, museum curators, and cultural institutions to capture each work in ultra-high resolution, utilizing Digital Light Capture Technology—a method employing high-end cameras and precise lighting to reveal brushstrokes in vivid detail. Images are captured in single ultra-high-resolution shots ranging from 100 to 400 megapixels with rich 48-bit color depth, avoiding common digital stitching techniques. Petro Bondarevskyi, a UFDA advisor and minority investor in the Kyiv Independent, emphasized the importance of the project in the digital info age: “We believe what we do will become extremely valuable in the art world. ” He added, “Ukraine will make its mark and set the bar. ” Despite their enthusiasm, UFDA artists recognize the project raises critical questions about art’s perception and value in the digital era. Anna Filippova, founder and curator of UFDA, stressed the need for high-quality digitization after observing many low-quality images of artworks. She recounted that the idea for UFDA began back in 2021 simply as an effort to digitize Ukrainian art comprehensively. Blockchain technology, popularized by Bitcoin’s 2008 introduction, has transformed notions of ownership. NFTs—unique blockchain certificates verifying ownership of digital assets—enable the UFDA to create digital counterparts of physical artworks. Importantly, neither UFDA nor the artists profit financially from selling these digitized NFTs; instead, all proceeds support Ukrainian NGOs. Ownership of an NFT is granted for up to a century, though copyright remains with the artist. Bondarevskyi explained, “When an artwork is purchased, the transaction is recorded on the blockchain — creating a digital analogue to the physical piece. ” While tokenization of these digital artworks evolved somewhat tangentially to UFDA’s main mission, the urgency of Russia’s war escalated the initiative from a quiet digital experiment to a critical cultural response. The UFDA argues that as modes of experiencing art evolve, so too should notions of ownership. Bondarevskyi draws an analogy to cinema’s shift from film to digital formats, reflecting how technology alters consumption and valuation of content, with digital ownership gaining meaningful permanence for collectors. Nonetheless, some artists voice reservations regarding the commercialization and implications of digitization.

Kateryna Lysovenko, whose works were evacuated and digitized by UFDA, expressed mixed feelings: while grateful for help during the war, she worries about a digital “second body” of her works becoming alienated and beyond her control. Conversely, artist Polina Shcherbyna values the archive’s potential to outlive physical pieces, particularly during wartime, endorsing UFDA’s mission as documenting their era through culture and influencing art research. The UFDA launched three years into the war, during a grim campaign targeting Ukraine’s cultural heritage characterized by deliberate destruction and theft. Since the war began, Russian forces have damaged or destroyed over 1, 400 cultural heritage sites and more than 2, 200 cultural facilities, affecting approximately 20% of Ukrainian settlements. With limited access to occupied and frontline areas, actual losses are likely higher. The theft includes what experts call the largest museum heist since World War II—over 33, 000 artworks and artifacts stolen from two Kherson museums in fall 2022. The Kyiv Independent’s War Crimes Investigations Unit documented individuals responsible for these crimes in its documentary “Curated Theft. ” In response, the UFDA partners not only with contemporary artists but also with museums to protect seminal Ukrainian works defining the nation’s cultural identity. The team digitized 46 paintings from the Nykonor Onatskyi Regional Art Museum in Sumy, including pieces by 19th-century realist Mykola Pymonenko and avant-garde artists like David Burliuk, Vasyl Krychevsky, and Oleksandr Bohomazov. This museum, situated near the Russian border, faces ongoing threats—most recently damaged in a Russian missile strike on April 13, 2024. Filippova emphasized the museum’s exceptional and nationally significant holdings and the urgency to safeguard them, given their precarious location. Many Ukrainian artists represented in these collections suffered under Russian repression, adding poignant significance to UFDA’s mission. Digitizing their work ensures that even if physical artworks are stolen, damaged, or destroyed, their voices and visions endure. This preservation is a testament to Ukraine’s rich cultural past and a crucial foundation for its future. Filippova reflected on the tragic history of repeated erasure, exile, and neglect suffered by the Ukrainian avant-garde and stressed the urgency to prevent another chapter of cultural eradication. Through technology, the UFDA strives to ensure that Ukraine’s cultural heritage survives despite the ongoing war and assaults on its identity.