On the night of June 15, Russia struck the National Film Studio named after Alexander Dovzhenko in Kyiv. According to preliminary data, the facility in the Shevchenko district received at least two direct hits. A fire broke out in the costume workshop — and with it disappeared a collection that the studio had been gathering for nearly a hundred years.
What was destroyed
The film studio's general director Andrii Donchyk announced the scale of losses on the air of "Breakfast with 1+1": approximately 100,000 costumes and roughly three million units of clothing and props were completely destroyed. Among them were Cossack uniforms, clothing sewn for the image of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, and artifacts used in dozens of iconic Ukrainian films.
"This is a unique collection, and it has been completely destroyed. Cossack costumes disappeared, the clothing of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, numerous historical artifacts. All of this was stored right here."
Andrii Donchyk, General Director of the National Film Studio named after Dovzhenko
Damage has been recorded across nearly the entire territory of the studio — not only in the costume workshop. The film archive was separately put at risk.
A studio that is nearly a hundred years old
The film studio was founded in 1928. Over the following decades, "Earth" by Alexander Dovzhenko, "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors" by Sergei Parajanov, "Only the Old Go to Battle" and "Two Hares" were shot here. The film "The Rainbow" from 1944 won an Oscar. The studio's films are included in the programs of film schools in the USA, Canada, France, and Japan. The costume collection was formed in parallel with this history — each major picture left part of its wardrobe here.
This is not the first strike on the facility: previously, during a massive bombardment of Kyiv, a blast wave damaged production premises and a hotel building on the studio's territory. That time there was no fire. This time there was.
Cultural loss in numbers and beyond
The Ministry of Culture is preparing an official assessment of damages and documenting the consequences for international documentation. Deputy Prime Minister for Humanitarian Policy Tetiana Berezhna emphasized that the lost collection had not only material but also irreplaceable historical value — it reflected the development of Ukrainian cinema over several generations.
It is important to understand the scale: three million units is more than the collections of most European theater wardrobe departments combined. We are not talking about warehouse remnants, but about material that was actively used during film shoots, theater productions, and cultural projects until recently. Some items had no analogues — handmade for specific films without documentation, without copies.
"Russia continues to intentionally attack not only civilian infrastructure and peaceful civilians, but also cultural institutions that preserve Ukrainian identity."
Tetiana Berezhna, Minister of Culture of Ukraine
What's next
Final damage figures will emerge after the work of special commissions. The film studio's archive is currently under threat — its condition is being assessed separately. International documentation of destructions may become part of future reparations claims, however, the mechanism for compensating cultural heritage damages still lacks a clear legal precedent in international law.
If the film studio's archive is not evacuated or physically protected before the next massive attack, Ukraine risks losing not only costumes — but also films and documentation that cannot be replaced with any amount of money after victory.
