First lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska has announced the launch of a charity initiative aimed at helping Ukraine to raise funds for the restoration of its cultural institutions destroyed during the war.

According to the press service of the president of Ukraine, Zelenska visited the Ukrainian Museum in New York to participate in the discussion on the subject: "Ukrainian Culture Preservation during the War".

"After half a year we have got more than 500 damaged or destroyed cultural heritage institutions. These are museums, historical buildings, churches. Everything that had been constructed and created by generations of Ukrainians. For me, as the first lady of my country and a citizen of Ukraine, the answer is obvious: this is a war against our identity… And this means that this war has a cultural front as well. And I am asking you, dear colleagues, to stand today with us just like the whole free world is standing together with us on the military front," she said.

According to the press release, the first institutions that will be reconstructed is the National Literary and Memorial Museum named after Hryhoriy Skovoroda in the village of Skovorodynivka not far from Kharkiv, which was destroyed by Russian shelling in May 2022.

Zelenska also attended a stamp cancellation ceremony on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of Skovoroda at the Ukrainian Museum in New York. The stamp was issued by Ukrposhta. Another stamp cancellation ceremony was held simultaneously near the museum in Kharkiv region. It is expected that a part of the assets raised from the sale of the stamp will be transferred to the museum's recovery fund.