Cultural heritage continues to suffer in Ukraine, Ministry of Culture records losses caused by war

Cultural monuments in Ukraine continue to suffer due to Russian full-scale invasion. The list of damaged sites includes unique objects of cultural heritage, which were destroyed in the attacks of the Russians. Today, the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy, which records such losses, cannot provide full information on the losses, because some of the destroyed objects are in the temporarily occupied territories or in the combat zone.

This was stated by Kateryna Chuieva, Deputy Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, during an online briefing held at the Media Center Ukraine in Odesa. To her great regret, she said, the numbers of heritage destroyed continue to grow. "We will be able to see the full picture after the end of the war and only after most of the war zones have been cleared and become directly accessible to researchers.

As of today, we can examine and fully document mainly those objects that are located in liberated territories and relatively remote from the front line," Chuieva stated.

The building of the former Realschule in Izium. Photo by suspilne.media The official announced the data from oblast military administrations on the loss of cultural heritage as of 25 June.

As of today, damage or destruction of more than 664 objects of cultural heritage was recorded, excluding objects of cultural infrastructure, such as libraries or other institutions located in modern buildings. The overall figure includes a small number of archaeological heritage sites, the bulk of which are currently poorly accessible for examination.

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"Today, 84 monuments of national importance, 514 monuments of local importance, as well as 66 newly discovered cultural heritage sites are known to be damaged or destroyed," the statement said.

The 664 damaged cultural heritage sites include:

211 architecture monuments;
186 architecture and urban planning sites;
179 historical monuments;
18 sites of history of monumental art;
17 sites of urban planning and monumental art;
16 archeology sites.

"It should also be remembered that one monument at the same time can be both an architectural monument and a historical monument," the Ministry of Culture emphasises. Local administrations say that since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, at least 24 monuments have been completely destroyed, 523 have been partially damaged, and the degree of damage to another 115 monuments needs to be clarified.

As a result of the shelling of the Russians, the museum of Hryhorii Skovoroda was destroyed.

Photo: Oleg Synehubov, Head of Kharkiv Oblast State Administration Destruction due to a terrorist attack at the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant Cultural heritage sites were also affected by the destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant on 6 June 2023.

To save these objects, the Cabinet of Ministers created the Interdepartmental Coordination Center, headed by Oleksandr Tkachenko, the Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine. "Ukraine faced challenges of this magnitude for the first time ever. We have large areas that have become shallow due to a sharp decline in water - or vice versa, were flooded.

The first of them have already attracted the attention of diggers and metal detectors who illegally extract valuable artefacts. In addition, there is damage downstream, where flooding actually occurred and this caused damage to cultural heritage sites. The Institute of Archeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, local monument keepers and researchers have teamed up in order to create several expeditions and go to the sites.

That is, such work is carried out in cooperation with law enforcement officers and the security sector. They are also supported by international donors," Kateryna Chuieva emphasised. The Deputy Minister also emphasised the important role of cooperation with UNESCO in the context of preserving the Ukrainian cultural heritage and holding Russia accountable for its damage and destruction, calling UNESCO "an umbrella organisation that coordinates the efforts of different parties, and partially assumes the function of monitoring and verifying data on cultural heritage objects."

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