The Russians have committed more than 300 criminal acts against the cultural heritage of Ukraine.

SVITLANA KIZILOVA — SATURDAY, 14 MAY 2022, 22:00

CONSEQUENCES OF THE SHELLING BY THE RUSSIANS OF THE SVIATOHIRSK LAVRA OF THE UOC-MP

The Ministry of Culture and Information Policy continues to document war crimes committed by Russians against objects of cultural heritage, and 331 incidents have already been documented as of 14 May.

Source: Ministry of Culture and Information Policy

Minister of Culture and Information Policy, Alexander Tkachenko: "In a short period of time since the update of the statistics of recorded crimes by Russians against our cultural heritage, they have hit the Jewish cemetery in Hlukhiv with a rocket. How do they differ from the fascists who exterminated the Jews 80 years ago? They’ve completely destroyed the St George’s Monastery of the Holy Assumption of the Sviatohirsk Lavra of the Moscow Patriarchate in the Donetsk region. In Odesa, Vorontsov Palace, an architectural monument of the beginning of the 19th century was damaged. The occupiers have again hit Khortytsia island, a sacred place for Ukrainians. Only barbarians can destroy our culture so godlessly."

Details: Russian crimes against objects of cultural heritage have been recorded in 13 regions of Ukraine and Kyiv. The cultural heritage of Kharkiv has currently received the most damage – 90 episodes have been recorded.

In Donetsk Oblast – 70 criminal acts have been registered, 52 of which were in Mariupol. In the Kyiv region 62 objects have suffered, the majority of them (37) in the Bucha district. There were 37 cases in Chernihiv Oblast, 22 in Luhansk Oblast, 20 in Sumy Oblast. In addition, 8 in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, 6 in Zhytomyr Oblast, and 5 in Kyiv and Kherson Oblasts. Three in the Mykolaiv Oblast. Objects have also been damaged in the oblasts of Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa and Lviv.

According to the report: "As a result of the shelling, and rocket and bomb attacks by the Russians in Ukraine, 110 objects of cultural heritage have been damaged and destroyed. Among them are 20 monuments of national significance, 83 of local significance and 7  newly discovered objects of cultural heritage.

The Ministry of Culture and Information Policy is aware of the damage or destruction of 114 religious buildings by the occupiers, 42 of which are listed as historical, architectural and urban monuments.

Damaged or destroyed: 41 memorial monuments in honour of historical figures and events from the 19th to the beginning of the 21st centuries. 26 buildings and complexes of museums and reserves, 62 cultural centres, theatres and libraries, as well as some other objects of valuable historical development.

Let us recall that destruction of objects of cultural heritage is a war crime under the 1954 Hague Convention."