According to a correspondent from Ukrinform, these models were crafted by Mykolaiv artisans following the technologies of the time as part of the project "Reinterpreting the Cultural and Historical Heritage of Mykolaiv Region in the Cossack Era: Traditions of Cossack Shipbuilding and Its Impact on the Region's Development in the 15th-18th Centuries."
“For a long time, narratives prevailed that Mykolaiv is a creation of the Russian Empire, which came here when the area was a barren steppe. The Russians deliberately distorted historical facts and insisted that shipbuilding emerged here only after their arrival. But this is not true. Much earlier, there were Cossack settlements here, and there is evidence from scholars and local historians to support this,” emphasized the head of the shipbuilding and fleet museum, Candidate of Historical Sciences Tetiana Mitkovska.
According to her, the museum's researchers are meticulously gathering information, working with historical sources in archives, libraries, and on the internet. Their goal is to broaden contemporary understanding of the region's Cossack past, particularly those aspects that both Russian and Soviet authorities attempted to erase from our history, Mitkovska stated.
The museum staff aims to debunk the myth of the supposed desolation of the region into which the "Russian Empire came" based on documentary evidence.
This includes regional formations from the time of the New Sich that were located in the territory of modern Mykolaiv Region - the Buhogardivska, Inhulsk, and Prohnoiivska palanks, as well as the Buh Cossack Host, which continued to preserve the traditions of the Zaporizhian Sich after its destruction in 1775.
All new models were created by Mykolaiv ship modelers: the galley was made by Serhiy Pastykin, and the dub by Valeriy Kishchuk. The creator of five half-models of Cossack vessels, namely the scampeveya, strug, dubok, baidarka, and barques, is Oleg Lisovenko, a sports master of international class in ship modeling and a shipbuilding engineer.
More about the ancient Cossack fleet can be found in the Ukrinform publication.
As reported, the legendary Cossack vessels allowed our ancestors to dominate the Black Sea for an extended period.