This paper discusses the topic of heritage diplomacy, especially when dealing with heritage in conflict zones. Situated at the intersection of history, strategic communication, and heritage diplomacy, the paper will engage with a broad range of recent scholarship on strategic narrative analysis. It will argue that strategic narrative analysis is particularly suited to applied history, as it allows to translate narrative insights into policy-relevant findings and recommendations for heritage professionals. This paper will also explore the well-being of heritage professionals, especially those working in a war context. To illustrate this approach, the article will introduce a case study of Ukraine, with a specific focus on the Kherson museums.

With news media being key players shaping perceptions and reactions to international actors and events, this study investigates the contribution of influential US newspapers to narrating Ukraine’s cultural and historic heritage impacted by the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia. This inquiry addresses the problem of securitization, operationalized as threats to societal and human security (Ukraine’s national identity, material heritage, and cultural actors). This problem is addressed via exposure of the visual content (photographs) concerned with the issues of Ukrainian heritage, which are being transformed from regular political matters into the matters of security. Considering the power of photographs to shape perceptions and their emotive charge, this research hypothesizes an interpretation gap – a gap between associating Ukraine with a victim, or with an actor who heroically protects and safeguards its heritage.

This study aims to explore the framing of Ukraine and the war against Ukraine in Indonesian media, focusing on the intricate interaction between cultural and historical heritage. Indonesia, as a key player in the Global South, holds the potential to influence how the war in Ukraine is portrayed. This influence is driven by the nation’s aspiration to represent developing nations in Southeast Asia. In the changing world, where images and perceptions play a crucial role, how Ukraine is framed may reflect Indonesia’s stance on global issues. This highlights the nation’s diplomatic efforts in promoting a multipolar world, emphasizing a more diverse and inclusive perspective aligned with the rise of Global South power. Data will be collected through content analysis to examine news coverage in Indonesian respective media since February 2022 regarding Ukraine’s cultural and historical heritage. Understanding how nations frame global events involves recognizing the influence of unique cultural, historical, and geopolitical factors. Drawing on agenda setting theory, a framework that explores the role of media in shaping public perceptions, this study delves into the framing strategies utilized by Indonesian media. By employing this theory, this study seeks to understand how agenda-setting mechanisms influence public opinion and contribute to the broader narrative of Indonesian perceptions of Ukraine. This research not only contributes to the understanding of media representation but also provides insights into the evolving dynamics of global power and the impact of cultural and historical perspectives on shaping contemporary geopolitical discourse.

Reviewing the narratives and frames about Ukraine’s cultural and historical heritage produced and projected by leading international media in the ‘Global North’ and’ Global South’ as its starting point, this paper explores how Ukraine’s heritage leading experts, diplomats, and international communicators identify and map the key frames and narratives to be communicated externally. Our comparative analysis, informed by the “perceptual approach” to EU foreign policy (Chaban and Elgström 2021, 2022, 2024), follows the two-fold ontology in the narrative analysis – “Ukrainian Heritage Proper” and “Ukrainian Heritage under Attack”. We pay special attention to the Ukrainian experts’ vision of the EU's external action in the context of heritage securitization and heritage diplomacy. A new area in the EU external action and foreign policy, heritage diplomacy remains under-researched. Addressing this gap, our paper stresses the need to overcome the Eurocentric nature of such research and prioritises systematic listening, dialogue, and co-creation in EU heritage diplomacy, and specifically in conflict zones. Empirically, we engage with the data from 20 in-depth semi-structured key-informant interviews with Ukrainian leading international communicators and media content analysis (traditional media and digital diplomacy).