Russian army caused destruction to nearly 700 libraries in Ukraine

1,938 Ukrainian cultural infrastructure institutions were destroyed or damaged by the Russian armed forces during the large-scale Russian-Ukrainian war, according to the calculations of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy. 

“The Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine continues to document damage to cultural infrastructure objects in Ukraine as a result of full-scale Russian invasion . As of January 25, 2024, 1938 cultural infrastructure objects (including cultural institutions subordinate to the Ministry and other local self-government bodies) have suffered losses, excluding cultural heritage sites. Among them, 314 (16%) have been completely destroyed,” the Ministry stated.

The overall losses of cultural institutions in state ownership are 28 objects (9%); in communal ownership: 1910 objects (6%).

The Ministry of Culture and Information Policy noted that the most significant losses and damages were suffered by the cultural infrastructure in Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia regions.

The largest group of affected cultural infrastructure objects is creative hubs (48% of the total number of affected cultural institutions).

In total, the following culture infrastructure institutions have been affected:

– Creative hubs: 929

– Libraries: 689

– Institutions of art education: 154

– Museums and galleries: 113

– Theaters, cinemas, and philharmonics: 38

– Parks, zoos, reserves: 12

– Circuses: 3

Due to the fact that almost the entire territory of Luhansk and significant parts of Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Kherson regions remain temporarily occupied by Russians, the calculation of the exact number of cultural infrastructure objects that have suffered during hostilities and occupation is impossible.

Formerly, Russian armed forces destroyed the largest library in Mariupol.

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Main image: the collage made by Chytomo: Kherson Oblast State Administartion/Suspilne Kherson

Translation: Viktoriia Chubenko

Editing: Tanya Mykhaylychenko