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Russia’s War Destroyed Over 4,000 Cultural Sites and Facilities Across Ukraine
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![Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko]( "Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko")
In 2025, Russia’s war against Ukraine destroyed or damaged 307 cultural heritage sites and 261 cultural infrastructure facilities across the country, the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine reported on January 6.
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, a total of 1,640 cultural heritage sites and 2,446 cultural infrastructure facilities have been damaged or destroyed, according to the statement. Of the affected heritage sites, 153 are of national significance, 1,333 are of local significance, and 154 are newly identified sites. Damage has been recorded in 18 regions of Ukraine.
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The heaviest losses among cultural heritage sites were reported in the Kharkiv region, with 344 damaged objects, followed by the Kherson region with 297, Odesa region with 182, Donetsk region with 175, and Kyiv region and the city of Kyiv with a combined total of 163.
“At the same time, shelling and fighting damaged 2,446 cultural infrastructure facilities, of which 498 were completely destroyed. The heaviest losses to cultural infrastructure were recorded in the Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Kyiv, Sumy, and Mykolaiv regions,” the statement read.
According to the ministry, the damaged facilities include 1,193 community and cultural centers, 854 libraries, 188 arts education institutions, 136 museums and galleries, 50 theaters, cinemas, and philharmonic halls, as well as parks, zoos, nature reserves, circuses, and a film studio in Kyiv.
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The ministry noted that nearly the entire territory of the Luhansk region, along with large parts of the Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Kherson regions, remains under temporary occupation. This makes it impossible to calculate the full extent of damage to cultural heritage sites and cultural institutions caused by hostilities and occupation.
Earlier, marking the third anniversary of Kherson’s liberation from Russian occupation, Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence released information showing that Russian forces systematically looted more than a thousand cultural items from the O. Shovkunenko Kherson Regional Art Gallery.
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-72b63a4e0c8c475ad81fe3eed3f63729.jpeg "Photo of Cyril Barabaltchouk")
