Russians have damaged over 200 cultural heritage sites in Ukraine

More than 200 cultural heritage sites have been damaged or destroyed during russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine Oleksandr Tkachenko wrote on Telegram.

«Russian troops are arbitrarily destroying our cultural heritage: churches, synagogues, museums, monuments, theaters. The Ministry has already identified 200 cultural heritage sites that have been destroyed, and these figures are not final», — the culture minister wrote.

Tkachenko said that a priority for the ministry is to continue the work of the Great Restoration program, as well as negotiations with international colleagues on the establishment of a pan-European fund to restore funding for this program.

The Great Restoration is a program to restore cultural heritage sites in all regions of Ukraine. It is implemented and coordinated by the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy. 

As of April 12, the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy identified more than 160 crimes against cultural heritage. 

Since the start of russia’s full-scale invasions of Ukraine, the russian military has bombed and shelled more than 280 educational buildings, 36 in the Kyiv region alone.  

According to UNESCO, at least 53 cultural landmarks in Ukraine have been damaged or destroyed. 

Read also: Cultural Disaster: What Ukrainian Sites Were Destroyed by Russian Occupiers