On 15 September, during a meeting in London between representatives of Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture and the UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), the British Council (BC) announced new funding of £2 million for cultural cooperation between Ukraine and the UK over three years, from 2027 to 2030. Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture reported this in a press release.
They note that the funds will serve as the BC’s initial contribution to a new fund of the UK–Ukraine Cultural Commission to deliver its priority projects and the goals of the countries’ century-long partnership.
This includes developing long-term links between museums, galleries, theatres, music venues and other cultural institutions in both countries, including through exchanges of experience, joint projects and co-productions.
Other priorities include strengthening ties between the film and television sectors, as well as the regular presentation of Ukrainian culture in the UK and British culture in Ukraine as part of cooperation between the BC and the Ukrainian Institute.
A separate strand of the partnership will focus on protecting, preserving and restoring Ukraine’s cultural heritage. This includes, in particular, professional and educational exchanges for specialists, countering the illegal export and trafficking of cultural property, and resisting the erasure of Ukrainian cultural identity.
They stress that this work is taking place against the backdrop of extensive losses to Ukrainian culture as a result of Russian aggression. As of the end of August 2026, 2,138 cultural heritage sites and 2,640 cultural institutions had been damaged or destroyed, according to the Ministry of Culture. Among them are 47 cultural heritage sites completely destroyed and 569 cultural institutions wiped out.
“£2 million from the British Council is an important investment in Ukrainian culture, its resilience and its future. It creates new opportunities for Ukrainian institutions and joint UK–Ukraine projects,” said Tetiana Berezhna, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister for Humanitarian Policy and Minister of Culture.
The fund’s operating mechanism and areas of support will be developed in cooperation with members of the UK–Ukraine Cultural Commission, namely Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture, DCMS and the Ukrainian Institute.
About the British Council:
- a non-ministerial body of the UK government responsible for promoting British culture abroad;
- founded in 1934;
- the BC opened its first office in Kyiv in 1992;
- in 1993, an agreement between Ukraine and the UK on educational, scientific and cultural cooperation designated the BC as the UK government’s principal agent for establishing and promoting cooperation in these areas.
About the UK–Ukraine Cultural Commission:
- established as part of the 100-year partnership between Ukraine and the UK;
- aims to become a permanent platform for expert dialogue, identifying shared priorities and projects, and discussing their joint funding.