A new museum called Pole Bitvy (Battlefield) has opened in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol, glorifying Russia's full-scale invasion and linking it to the Soviet Union's victory in World War II. Russian officials, including senator Vladimir Yakushev and project head Sergei Ladochkin, presented the museum as a symbol of liberation from 'neo-Nazis,' while Ukrainian officials condemn it as an 'entertainment pavilion on bones' in a city where tens of thousands died during the 2022 siege.
The opening is part of a broader Russian cultural campaign to erase Ukrainian identity in occupied territories, including the restoration of Mariupol's bombed drama theatre and the earlier opening of a museum dedicated to Stalinist official Andrei Zhdanov. The museum's use of war propaganda and historical distortion raises international concerns about cultural appropriation and the weaponization of art institutions in conflict zones.