On Wednesday, 14 October 2026, a presentation of the Code of the Nation Museum, devoted to the life, work, and cultural legacy of Taras Shevchenko, took place in the village of Novi Bezradychi in the Kyiv region.
Participants included heads and representatives of foreign diplomatic missions in Ukraine: the Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Argentina (Elena Leticia Mikusinski), Azerbaijan (Seymur Mardaliyev), Brazil (Rafael de Mello Vidal), China (Ma Shengkun), Egypt (Ahmed Salama Mohamed Elhamshary), Kazakhstan (Tolezhan Barlybayev), Kyrgyzstan (Idris Kadyrkulov), Libya (Osama Ablgasem), Palestine (Hashem Dajani), Tajikistan (Davlatali Nazrizoda), and Uzbekistan (Alisher Kurmanov); the Chargés d’Affaires ad interim of Georgia (Irakli Abesadze) and Iraq (Kazem Tarek Adil Kazem); Wang Zhenguang, minister-counsellor, and Li Jianwei, first secretary, of the Embassy of China; Andreas Zapounidis, consular and economic affairs officer at the Embassy of Cyprus; Lucian-Petrișor Crîngașu, minister-counsellor for political affairs at the Embassy of Romania; and Serdar Kakadjanov, first secretary of the Embassy of Turkmenistan. Representatives of state authorities also attended the presentation.
The event was organized at the initiative of Vladlen Nekliudov, head of the Ukraine–Kyrgyzstan interparliamentary friendship group, and Idris Kadyrkulov, Ambassador of the Kyrgyz Republic to Ukraine, with organizational support from the State Enterprise ‘Directorate-General for Rendering Services to Diplomatic Missions’.
Viktor Yushchenko, Ukraine’s third president, the visionary behind the project and its founder, personally presented the Code of the Nation Museum to the guests. During the visit, the diplomats learned about the mission of the museum complex: to provide a space for reflection on Ukrainian history, culture, and national identity through the figure of Taras Shevchenko — a renowned Ukrainian poet and artist and one of Ukraine’s foremost symbols, whose creative and spiritual legacy has become an integral part of the Ukrainian national code. Benefactors Oleksandr Mishchenko and Dmytro Shylovets — an entrepreneur, patron of the arts, and adviser to Viktor Yushchenko, Ukraine’s third president — play an important role in supporting the museum’s reconstruction, expanding its exhibition, and further developing the complex.
The diplomats viewed a collection of Ukrainian antiquities comprising thousands of historic Ukrainian embroidered towels, known as rushnyks, national clothing, traditional household items, works of folk art, and other artefacts reflecting the richness and distinctive character of Ukrainian culture. They also learned about the significance of Taras Shevchenko and his role in bringing Ukrainian culture to worldwide attention.
During the event, Oleksandr Kondratenko, founder and chief editor of Kyiv Diplomatic magazine, assistant to a Ukrainian member of parliament, and vice-president of the Awards Chamber of Ukraine, presented Idris Kadyrkulov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kyrgyz Republic, with a special distinction — the Order ‘For Outstanding Achievements in International Cooperation’, First Class — in accordance with a decision of the magazine’s public council. The diplomat was also named ‘Best Diplomat of 2025’ by the international publication Kyiv Diplomatic.
The visit offered the international diplomatic community an opportunity to deepen their understanding of Ukrainian cultural heritage, history, and national identity, and to discuss the importance of preserving historical memory and fostering international cooperation in this field.
