Hundreds of Ukrainian cultural sites, from churches to museums, have been damaged in the war against Russia.
Since Russia initiated the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, many Ukrainian cultural sites have suffered varying degrees of damage. As of February 7, 2024, UNESCO noted damage to 342 sites, highlighting the continuing impact of the war on the country’s cultural heritage.
Among them, there are 127 religious sites, 150 buildings of historical and artistic interest, 31 museums, 19 monuments, 14 libraries and an archive building.
The following photographic documents show the impact of the war on the country’s rich cultural heritage and illustrate the scale of what was lost.
The Donetsk oblast (or region) in eastern Ukraine is one of the areas most affected by the war, as evidenced by the list of sites studied by UNESCO. Located in this oblast, the eastern front has been the scene of intense fighting since the start of the war, and Donetsk has seen many of its towns and villages completely razed.
Among them, Mariupol experienced considerable devastation and destruction during the early phases of Russian aggression against Ukraine. The city suffered a prolonged siege by Russian forces, which caused numerous civilian casualties and extensively damaged infrastructure and cultural heritage. Today, it is still illegally occupied by Russia.
In addition to the material damage, the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture told The Economist that more than 480,000 works of art had been illegally removed by Russia by the start of 2024.
In particular, 28,000 works of art were stolen from the Kherson Museum alone during the city’s occupation, highlighting the systematic targeting of cultural treasures by Russian forces.