Russians damage 1,946 cultural landmarks in two years of full-scale war against Ukraine
Ukraine's Ministry of Culture and Information Policy has published updated statistics on damage to cultural landmarks caused by Russian aggression as of 25 February 2024. The ministry reported that 1,946 cultural infrastructure objects were damaged by Russia’s actions in the two years of the full-scale war.
The ministry's press service reported that 317 of them (or 16%) were completely destroyed.
The majority of landmarks damaged or destroyed by Russians are local cultural institutions, accounting for 48% of the total.
Amongst the affected facilities are:
- 933 cultural club establishments;
- 695 libraries;
- 151 art education institutions;
- 113 museums and galleries;
- 38 theatres, cinemas and concert halls;
- 13 parks, zoos, natural reserves;
- 3 circuses.
Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts as well as the city of Kyiv suffered the most damage to their cultural infrastructure.
The Ministry of Culture also stated that because almost the entire territory of Luhansk and significant parts of Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Kherson oblasts are under temporary occupation, it is impossible to accurately calculate the number of cultural sites that were damaged.
The ministry reported in October last year that 1,702 cultural infrastructure facilities had been damaged in Russian aggression in Ukraine.
In mid-February of this year, UNESCO reported that according to its calculations, Russia inflicted US$3.5 billion worth of damage to Ukrainian culture in almost two full years of a full-scale war. It will take about 10 years and US$9 billion to rebuild all the damaged cultural and historical sites after the full-scale invasion.
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