Throughout the years of the war, Russia has continued to systematically destroy Ukrainian culture. 2,161 cultural heritage sites and 2,665 cultural institutions have been damaged or destroyed as a result of Russian aggression.
In September alone, 26 cultural heritage sites and 25 cultural institutions came under attack. Our monuments, museums, libraries, theaters, and art schools are under attack.
Russia is also deliberately destroying Ukrainian books. Over the summer alone, Russia destroyed more than 13 million books worth over 1.75 billion hryvnias. Since the start of the full-scale invasion, Russia has attacked printing houses, publishing houses, bookstores, and book warehouses at least 21 times.
In total, the affected cultural institutions include 917 libraries, 140 museums and galleries, 197 art education institutions, and 57 theaters, movie theaters, and concert halls. 571 cultural institutions have been completely destroyed.
To attract international aid, the government is developing the UCHF (Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Fund). Eleven countries have already joined the fund, raising over 4.3 million euros. We are bringing partners together to restore damaged monuments, preserve museum collections, and create secure storage facilities.
We are working to protect our heritage and preserve museum collections. Together with communities and cultural institutions, we are documenting the destruction to establish a basis for restoration and gather evidence to hold Russia accountable.
Based on materials from the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine