The Russian Center of Culture and Science, which continues to operate in Kyiv, called Taras Shevchenko a "Russian-Ukrainian" poet, unleashing a wave of indignation in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and the Council of National Security and Defense.
"In connection with the manipulative and brazen encroachments of the aggressor country on the historical, cultural and philosophical heritage of Taras Shevchenko, we note that the national self-identification of Kobzar - an irreconcilable fighter for the national and spiritual revival of Ukraine, the liberation of our Motherland from the oppression of Russia - cannot cause any doubtful The Ministry of Foreign Affairs denies any Russian narratives about Taras Shevchenko."
The ministry emphasized that the Russian Center of Culture and Science in Kyiv is the only state institution of the Russian Federation in Ukraine with the functions of cultural representation. The National Cultural Center of Ukraine operates in Moscow.
The National Security Council promised to consider the issue of terminating the work of the Russian Center in Kyiv if a proposal is received from "the president or the second subject of the legislative initiative."
As it turned out, the Russian Center of Culture and Science in Kyiv announced an event in honor of Taras Shevchenko on Facebook, calling him a "Russian-Ukrainian" poet on March 9, but it turned into a scandal only now.
The organizers stated that "some researchers" attribute the work of the Ukrainian to Russian literature, as some of his works were written in Russian.
Pavel Sadokha, deputy vice-president of the World Congress of Ukrainians in Southern and Western Europe, drew attention to the announcement. He appealed to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi and the National Security Council, in which he called to consider the issue of banning the center's activities.
