VIKTOR PETROV IN THE PRUT-DNIESTER EXPEDITION: ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND IDEOLOGICAL CONTEXTS

Abstract

The paper provides a brief overview of archaeological research on ancient Tyras and medieval Bilhorod, with an emphasis on the problematic issue of the politicization of archaeology. After the Second World War, when Bessarabia, which includes Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi in the Odesa region, passed from Romanian rule to the Ukrainian SSR, the site was excavated by Ukrainian scientists as well as the expedition of Russian archaeologist Georgii Fedorov. Starting in the 1950s, the expedition actively searched for archaeological traces of Slavs in the region, partly due to political motives, as it was necessary to substantiate the «eternal friendship» of the Russian, Ukrainian, and Moldovan peoples. Subsequently, a number of Moldovan archaeologists, students of G. Fedorov, opposed him, focusing on the Romanesque element in the ethnogenesis of the Moldovans.

In the Scientific archive of the Institute of Archaeology, during the scanning of documents from the Viktor Petrov collection, the folder with photographs from Tyras from 1954 was found. The biographical episode about participation of V. Petrov in G. Fedorov expedition was little known in historiography. The paper contains G. Fedorov recollection of Viktor Petrov as a KGB agent in his expedition, who, however, appears as a positive character having cared about the fate of the disgraced Russian poet Naum Korzhavin. The paper also includes Naum Korzhavin’s recollection of being denounced for writing an anti-Soviet poem that questioned the joy of the 300th anniversary of Ukraine’s reunification with Russia. These memoirs convey, in a way, the spirit of the post-Stalinist era, immersing one in an atmosphere of disgusting slander on the one hand, and on the other, an atmosphere where one tried to preserve courage and humanity against all odds. The paper also includes the letters from V. Petrov to his wife Sofia Zerova from the expedition, which allow the reader to somewhat experience its atmosphere. The paper is finished with an excerpt from Georgy Fedorov autobiographical documentary novel Deserter (From the Notes of an Occupant), which describes his participation in the occupation of the Baltic States in 1940—1941 and warns the Soviet military about the possibility of repeating these mistakes in 1991. Unfortunately, the predatory neighboring state repeats its mistakes and crimes, only increasing their regularity and intensity.