Russia’s war on Ukraine has damaged 1,333 cultural heritage sites

Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications reported the information.

According to information provided by regional and Kyiv city military administrations, in January alone, 78 cultural heritage sites were damaged in the Kherson, Mykolaiv, and Zaporizhzhia regions.

“The total number of damaged cultural heritage sites in Ukraine as of the end of January 2025 stands at 1,333. Of these, 131 are of national significance, 1,126 are of local significance, and 76 are newly identified,” the ministry stated.

The report also noted that cultural heritage sites in 18 regions and Kyiv have suffered damage, including: Kharkiv region – 324; Kherson region – 255; Donetsk region – 164; Odesa region – 137; Chernihiv region – 65; Kyiv region and Kyiv city – 83; Lviv region – 60; Zaporizhzhia region – 58; Dnipropetrovsk region – 49; Mykolaiv region – 46; Sumy region – 33; Luhansk region – 32; Khmelnytskyi region – 10; Poltava region – 6; Vinnytsia and Zhytomyr regions – 4 each; Kirovohrad region – 2; Cherkasy region – 1.

At the same time, 2,185 cultural infrastructure facilities have been affected, with 409 completely destroyed (18.7%).

“The most significant losses and damages to cultural infrastructure have been recorded in the Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Sumy regions,” the report states.

The largest category of damaged or destroyed cultural infrastructure facilities is cultural clubs, accounting for 48.3% of all affected cultural institutions.

In total, the following have been damaged:

• cultural clubs – 1,056
• libraries – 784
• art education institutions – 166
• museums and galleries – 120
• theaters, cinemas, and philharmonics – 39
• reserves – 7
• parks and zoos – 9
• circuses – 4

The Ministry noted that due to the fact that almost the entire territory of Luhansk region and significant parts of Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Kherson regions remain under temporary occupation, it is impossible to determine the exact number of cultural heritage sites damaged during hostilities and occupation.

• At the beginning of November 2024, it was reported that 1,179 cultural heritage sites in Ukraine had been damaged due to the Russian war.