The Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine continues to document the significant damage to the country’s cultural heritage sites and infrastructure caused by russia’s ongoing aggression.
As of March 25, 2025, regional and Kyiv city military administrations report that 1,419 cultural heritage sites have been damaged across Ukraine. This includes 139 national sites, 1,184 local sites, and 96 newly discovered ones.
The destruction affects 18 regions and Kyiv. The highest numbers of damaged sites are in Kharkiv (329), Kherson (279), Donetsk (169), Odesa (159), and Kyiv (100). Other regions like Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhia, Lviv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Mykolaiv have also seen significant damage.
Along with the cultural heritage sites, 2,233 cultural infrastructure facilities have been damaged, 409 of which have been completely destroyed, accounting for 18.3% of the total.
The worst losses to cultural infrastructure have occurred in Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Sumy regions. The largest group of affected institutions are cultural clubs, making up 48.6% of all damaged or destroyed cultural sites.
The breakdown of affected institutions is as follows:
- 1,085 club institutions
- 792 libraries
- 171 art education centers
- 122 museums and galleries
- 42 theatres, cinemas, and philharmonics
- 8 nature reserves
- 9 parks and zoos
- 4 circuses
Destruction has been widespread, affecting cultural institutions in 305 territorial communities, or 20.8% of all communities in Ukraine. The most heavily impacted regions include Donetsk (87% of communities), Kharkiv (59%), Mykolaiv (44.2%), Zaporizhzhia (40.3%), and Sumy (66.7%).
Additionally, nearly all of Luhansk and significant parts of Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Kherson regions remain under temporary occupation, preventing an accurate assessment of the total number of cultural heritage sites damaged during the ongoing conflict and occupation.
