Cultural heritage experts fear Russian President Vladimir Putin out to destroy Ukraine's history
STAMFORD, Conn. -- There are several hundred thousand people with Ukrainian heritage in the New York metropolitan area. The culture of their homeland is preserved at a museum in Fairfield County.
Inside a gilded age mansion in Stamford, the culture of Ukraine is displayed and preserved -- from traditional clothing to religious and secular artworks and portraits of national heroes. It's a rich heritage that curator Lubow Wolynetz fears Russia and President Vladimir Putin are denying and would even destroy.
"Those who listened to Putin's speech, he completely rewrote the history. He decided that Ukraine was never a nation, didn't exist, didn't have a language, it's all part of Russia and so on," Wolynetz told CBS2's Tony Aiello on Wednesday.
"He wants to deny Ukraine's strong economic and cultural connections to Europe. He wants to deny Ukraine an identity, a national identity, that is primarily European," University of New Haven foreign affairs expert Dr. Matthew Schmidt said.
Schmidt says Putin wants to include Ukraine in his dream of a new Russian empire between Europe and Asia, adding the president worries a pro-West Ukraine, "will develop and become the source point for anti-Putin protests and an anti-Putin movement back in Russia."
Wolynetz said friends who curate similar museums in Ukraine are taking steps to protect their collections from any Russian attempts to wipe out Ukrainian culture.
"This is what Putin is trying to do. He's negating everything. He's saying it doesn't exist, there's no such thing, and in order to prove it he destroys these things," Wolynetz said.
It is an unsettling time for the world and for all things Ukrainian, which is why the museum is in close contact with police about security measures.
The museum in Stamford is the oldest cultural institution founded by Ukrainians in the United States.