On September 27, 2023, on Polish Radio for Ukraine (Polskie Radio dla Ukrainy), the Head of the State Archival Service of Ukraine spoke about the work of Ukrainian archivists during the war.

He stated that Ukrainian archives that Ukrainian archives in relatively safe regions work today as they did before the full scale invasion of Ukraine by russia. Archivists are responding to requests and issuing archival certificates. Reading rooms are also open for users.

Anatolii Khromov spoke about the international conference «Security of Collections – Security of Memory. Museums, Libraries, Archives under Threats», where he gave a presentation on the current state of the Ukrainian archives. He noted the importance of such forums for establishing direct contacts with foreign partners interested in providing financial and technical support to Ukrainian archives (equipment, restoration materials, digitization, etc.). Also, he expressed gratitude to the State Archives of Poland for donating special shelves, dehumidifiers for archival storages, restoration materials, and fireproof evacuation bags.

The Head of the State Archival Service of Ukraine emphasized that the risks for archives in times of war are unpredictable, and the digitization of archival documents allows for the preservation of the information they contain. This is crucial to preserve the national memory of the Ukrainian people.

With the help of foreign partners, the digitization process was accelerated. According to Anatolii Khromov, the largest partner is FamilySearch International, which will employ 100 operators on 100 cameras, allowing for the digitization of almost 100 million documents in four years.

The full interview is available via the link.