After more than 100 days of war, how much damage has been done to Ukraine's cultural heritage?

More than 100 days into the war, what is the actual damage done to Ukraine’s cultural heritage? Since the beginning of the war, the damage to cultural property in the country attacked by Russia has been mapped extensively by a project of Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture, Culture Crimes, carried out in a crowd-sourced mode, that is, with updates published based on incoming testimonies from all parts of the country. The project site is updated daily, in Ukrainian and English, and contains a database that includes the name of the damaged site, the type, the date of the report and the alleged date of damage, and also photographs of the damage.

As of June 6, 381 damaged properties are reported, 154 of which are considered ancient (i.e., dating from before the 1950s). The assets also include recent buildings (some of which, especially those dating from after the 1950s, have been completely lost), while most of the damage involves 19th- and 20th-century structures. Some of the most valuable buildings that suffered damage include the Spartak Hotel in Mariupol, an 1884 building that suffered damage to its facades, roofs, ceilings, and interior due to bombing; in Kharkiv oblast, the remains of the Oleksiyivska fortress, dating from the 18th century and included in the list of state-protected property, sustained damage; in Chernihiv, the altars and some architectural elements of the church of St. Elijah, an 11th-12th-century building, were damaged; and also in the same city the 18th-century Trinity Monastery and the adjoining 17th-century church also suffered damage (damage also to the paintings preserved there); in Skovorodynivka a missile devastated the house of the 18th-century writer Hrygoriy Skovoroda, which houses the memorial museum dedicated to him; in Kyselivka, in the Mykolayiv region, an attack destroyed the roof and interior of the Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception, an 1852 building; St. Demetrius Church in Verkhniotoretske (1850-1861). Among the most significant modern monuments, the most notorious case is the damage to the Holocaust Memorial “Drobitsky Yar” in the village of Mala Rogan, Kharkiv oblast (the memorial’s obelisk was partially destroyed).

In contrast, five archaeological sites suffered damage: these are two Scythian mound burials in the Kherson region and one in the Chernihiv region, the Iskorosten site (9th-10th century), the Izium fortress, and an archaeological site of a settlement inhabited from the 1st millennium B.C. to the 12th century in the Chernihiv region.

Twenty-three museums are also included in the list: have suffered damage, among others, the Museum of Local Traditions in Mariupol (several bombings devastated the building, from 1916-1920, while the known the fate of the collections), the Municipal Gallery in Kharkiv (an explosion damaged the facade and some interiors), the memorial to writer Myhailo Kotsiubynsky in Chernihiv (damage to walls, ceilings, and windows), the Regional Art Museum in Chernihiv (damage to the facade, windows, and some interiors), the Museum of Local Traditions in Sumy (damage to facade, windows, and ceilings), the Museum of Local Traditions in Irpin (damage to the building), the Museum of Local Traditions in Makariv (damage to facade, windows, and interior, no problems instead with the collections), the Kuindzhi Museum of Art in Mariupol (numerous damages to the building, the fate of the collections is not known), the Museum of Local Traditions in Borodyanka (damage to the building and losses among the collection, although not known at present), the Popov Castle in Vasylivka (damage to the walls, a tower destroyed, and according to some unverified information it was looted).

According to the database, there are two museums that have been completely destroyed for the time being: one is the Museum of Local Traditions in Ivankiv, which was lost during a fire(we had also reported about it on these pages), and the other is the Mariupol Museum of History, housed in the House of Culture “Karl Marx,” whose building was destroyed during an attack. Regarding another sensational media case, that of the Museum of Local History in Melitopol (many press organs have reported the looting, by the Russians, of archaeological collections of Scythian objects), the database stresses that this is information that has yet to be verified.

Fortunately, few sites built before the nineteenth century have suffered (mostly minor) damage, although this is meager consolation, noting the extent of damage on nineteenth- and twentieth-century heritage: the only ones to have suffered damage, according to the database, are the Oleksiyivska Fortress (1731-1742), St. Elijah’s Church in Chernihiv (late 11th-early 12th century, fortunately suffered minor damage), Hrygoriy Skovoroda Memorial in Skovorodynivka (second half of the 18th century), the Koenig Manor in Trostyanets (late 18th century: is known because the composer Pyotr Ilič Tchaikovsky lived here for some time), the Trinity Monastery in Chernihiv (17th-18th centuries), the Cathedral of the Transfiguration in Chernihiv (first half 11th century, suffered minor damage to the facade), St. Catherine’s Church in Chernihiv, Trinity Cathedral in Chernihiv (1679-1695, damage to ancient wall paintings), Kharkiv State Academy (late 18th century). In addition to these are the archaeological sites mentioned above.

Among the theaters and cultural centers, the Prudianka House of Culture, the Merefa House of Culture, the “Iskra” Palace of Culture in Mariupol, and the Donetsk Regional Academy Theater in Mariupol (1956-1960), another building that constituted one of the most notorious media cases of the war as it was used as a shelter, were completely destroyed or nearly destroyed.

Pictured is the damage to the church of St. Demetrius in Verkhniotoretske

After more than 100 days of war, how much damage has been done to Ukraine's cultural heritage?

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