A curated selection of photographs from “Behind the Lens: Culture Under Attack”, an exhibition created by the Institute of Mass Information (IMI) with support from UNESCO, was displayed in Madrid on 22–23 September. The photographs were featured at the first-ever Space Debate Europe, where European experts specialising in space, heritage, and other subjects discussed how satellite data can help protect cultural sites threatened by conflicts and environmental factors, reports Eurisy.
The images were taken by Ukrainian journalists and photographers. They show the damage that Russia’s aggression has done to churches, theatres, libraries, museums, and other cultural sites. The selection was displayed alongside the panel “Protecting Cultural Heritage in Conflict: The View from Space”.
“In Ukraine, cultural heritage is threatened not only by attacks and physical destruction, but also by illegal excavations and the removal and trafficking of cultural objects. Space allows us to see beyond distances and front lines, including places that are currently beyond our reach. Our task is to turn this information into concrete action: to document, protect, cooperate and, ultimately, preserve,” said Yulia Sokolovska, Ukraine’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Kingdom of Spain.
Spanish Minister of Culture Ernest Urtasun called for a shift toward prevention: “We must move from reacting to damage towards a more preventive approach… Earth observation can provide the tools to make this possible.”
The discussion reflected the cooperation between Ukraine’s Minister of Culture Tetiana Berezhna and her Spanish counterpart, Ernest Urtasun. Both parties reaffirmed a shared commitment to protecting cultural heritage.
Space Debate Europe is a new European dialogue format co-organised by Eurisy, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI). The first forum took place at the historic Palacio de Linares, with the Spanish Space Agency as a government sponsor. It was held as part of the Interparliamentary Space Conference, which Spain chairs in 2026.
The exhibition’s origins
The photo exhibition “Behind the Lens: Culture Under Attack” features works by Ukrainian reporters and photographers who documented the damage and destruction suffered by Ukrainian churches, theaters, libraries, museums and other cultural sites in the course of Russia’s aggression.
The project was implemented by the Institute of Mass Information and funded by the UNESCO Heritage Emergency Fund and the people of Japan.
The exhibition premiered on 3 May 2024, World Press Freedom Day, at the Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko National Museum of Arts in Kyiv. The museum itself had been affected in a 2022 missile strike and, like several of the buildings in the photographs, received emergency support from UNESCO.
In June 2024, IMI and UNESCO presented the exhibition at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin. In July 2025, the exhibition was displayed on the sidelines of the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome.
The Institute of Mass Information (IMI) is a Ukrainian civil society organization specializing in the media, operating since 1996. IMI defends the rights of journalists, studies the media landscape and reports on media-related events, fights propaganda and disinformation, and provides media workers with safety equipment for trips to combat areas (since the start of the Russo–Ukrainian war in 2014).
IMI carries out the only monitoring study of freedom of speech in Ukraine, keeps a list of transparent and responsible online media outlets, and tracks Russia’s media crimes in the war on Ukraine. IMI has representatives in 20 oblasts of Ukraine and runs a network of Media Hubs that provide journalists with unfailing support. IMI’s partners include Reporters Without Borders (RSF); the organization is also a member of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX).
