Over 2,000 Cultural Sites in Ukraine Damaged Due to Russian Aggression, Ministry of Culture Reports

As a result of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, nearly 2,100 cultural institutions have been damaged or destroyed, according to the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine. Of these, 361 have been completely destroyed.

In September alone, the number of damaged cultural facilities increased by 49, with the regions of Kharkiv, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Sumy most affected.

As of September 25, 2024, a total of 2,093 cultural institutions have sustained damage, including those under the Ministry of Culture and other central executive authorities. Out of these, 361 (17.25%) have been destroyed. The losses to state-owned cultural facilities include 37 institutions, while 2,056 belong to local communities.

The largest group of affected cultural facilities are community cultural centers, which account for 48.2% of all damaged institutions. The list of damaged facilities includes:

• 1,007 community cultural centers

• 746 libraries

• 162 art education institutions

• 120 museums and galleries

• 38 theaters, cinemas, and philharmonic halls

• 16 parks, zoos, and nature reserves

• 4 circuses

Damage has been reported in 296 territorial communities, which represents 20% of the total number of Ukraine’s communities. The most affected regions are Donetsk (87%), Sumy (62.7%), Kharkiv (58.9%), Chernihiv (49%), Luhansk (46.2%), Mykolaiv (44.2%), Kherson (43%), and Zaporizhzhia (40.3%).

Due to the ongoing occupation of almost all of Luhansk and significant parts of the Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Kherson regions as of the end of September 2024, it remains impossible to accurately calculate the total number of cultural institutions impacted by the invasion and occupation.

Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, around 1,000 libraries have been destroyed or damaged, with over 200 million books affected.