As of January 2025, Russia’s war against Ukraine has caused large-scale losses in the field of cultural heritage. According to the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine, a total of 1,333 cultural heritage sites and 2,185 cultural infrastructure facilities were damaged.
Source: mcsc
Cultural monuments in the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine suffered the most damage. In January this year, 78 new cases of damage were recorded in Kherson, Mykolaiv and Zaporizhzhia regions.
Out of a total of 1,333 damaged sites:
- 131 have the status of national monuments,
- 1126 are monuments of local significance,
- 76 are newly discovered sites.
Regions that suffered the greatest losses:
- Kharkiv region – 324 destroyed monuments,
- Kherson region – 255,
- Donetsk region – 164,
- Odesa region – 137,
- Kyiv and Kyiv region – 83,
- Lviv region – 60,
- Zaporizhzhia region – 58,
- Dnipropetrovs’k region – 49,
- Mykolaiv region – 46,
- Sumy region – 33,
- Luhansk region – 32.
Due to the occupation of large areas of Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Kherson regions, the exact number of destroyed monuments cannot yet be determined.
Large-scale losses of cultural infrastructure
In addition to heritage monuments, cultural institutions have also suffered damage:
- 1,056 clubs (48.3% of all affected facilities),
- 784 libraries,
- 166 art schools,
- 120 museums and galleries,
- 39 theatres, cinemas and philharmonic societies,
- 7 nature reserves,
- 9 parks and zoos,
- 4 circuses.
According to official data, 409 cultural infrastructure facilities were completely destroyed, accounting for 18.7% of all damaged institutions.
Cultural institutions in Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Sumy regions suffered the greatest losses.
Russia’s military aggression is causing irreparable damage to Ukraine’s cultural heritage, destroying historical heritage and centres of cultural development.
