The MCIP continues to record russian war crimes against cultural heritage

The Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine continues to record russian war crimes against Ukraine's cultural heritage. 367 cases have been already recordedas of May 27, 2022. 

"Russian war criminals do not calm down and continue destroying everything Ukrainian. It is currently known about the complete destruction of 9 cultural heritage sites in Donetsk, Kyiv, Sumy and Chernihiv regions. Other objects suffered varying degrees of damage. Conditions of other 23 sites remain unknown. After all, it is still difficult to obtain information from the temporarily occupied territories and places where active hostilities are taking place. We have a lot of work to do after the victory of Ukraine. But we are starting work on restoring the cultural heritage now. We are constantly in dialogue with international partners, our authorities and communities."

For example, recently together with the Head of Kharkiv Regional State Administration Oleh Synegubov announced the establishment of a fund for the restoration of the Skovoroda Museum. We will raise funds not only from the state, but also from philanthropists and international donors. We already have preliminary agreements with a number of our western partners who agree to provide funds for the restoration of the Museum. We need to restore everything and punish the criminals fairly, "said Oleksandr Tkachenko, Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine.  

Unfortunately, the tendency towards the destruction of cultural heritage has not changed. Kharkiv region suffered mostly. There are 96 cases in the region, 79 of them - in the city of Kharkiv and nearby. 75 crimes have been recorded in Donetskregion, 53 of them-  in Mariupol. 70 cases were recorded in Kyiv region. The largest number - 44 - is in Bucha district. Also 38 - in Chernihiv, 26 - in Sumy, 25 - in Luhansk, 11 - in Zaporizhia, 6 - in Zhytomyr, 5 - in Kyiv and Kherson region. In addition, 4 - in Mykolayiv, 3 - in Dnipropetrovsk, 2 - in Odessa, 1 - in Lviv region. 

“51 sites suffered a severe degree among all of the damaged buildings of the Ukrainian cultural heritage. Most of such objects are in Donetsk, Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Kyiv regions. 117 cases are of moderate degree, among which more than 50 percent are in Donetsk region. 167 objects have mild degree of damage,” added Kateryna Chuyeva, Deputy Minister of Culture and Information Policy. 

The MCIP is aware of damage of many religious buildings by russians. The occupiers' criminal activities damaged or destructed 133 sites of such buildings, 49 of which are listed as historical, architectural and urban monuments. These are Orthodox and Catholic churches, Protestant houses of worship, mosques and synagogues. 

So far, russians have destroyed 42 memorials in Ukraine in honor of historical figures and events of the XIX - early XXI centuries., 29 buildings and complexes of museums and natural reserves, 74 buildings of houses of culture, theaters and libraries, damaged some other valuable historical buildings. 

It should be reminded that the destruction of cultural heritage is a war crime under the 1954 Hague Convention. Information on russian crimes in Ukraine continues to be received. MCIP specialists check and systematize the obtained data and publish them on a special website: culturecrimes.mkip.gov.ua. We call on to join this process, while remembering personal safety.