UNESCO and UN specialists have recorded at least 270 Russian attacks on Ukrainian cultural sites, 116 of those were religious buildings.
Trying to justify the destruction of the Odesa Transfiguration Cathedral during Russia’s July 23 missile strikes on the Ukrainian port city, pro-Kremlin media launched a wave of fake stories claiming that in their war against Ukraine, Russians do not strike Ukrainian historical monuments or target cultural sites. Continuing Moscow’s mantra about the “high precision” of the Russian army strikes which target “only Ukrainian military facilities”, Russian media insisted that the Russian military “never strike at social infrastructure and religious buildings in Ukraine” and deny all accusations of destroying churches and civilian and cultural infrastructure in Ukraine.
Russia’s declarations that it is not involved in the destruction of cultural heritage sites and religious buildings in Ukraine is pure disinformation. Russia’s narrative is shown to be false not only by official data collected by the Ukrainian side, but also by Ukraine’s international partners. As of July 20, 2023, UNESCO has verified and documented Russian damage to 270 cultural sites in Ukraine, including churches, museums, libraries, historical buildings, monuments, libraries and archives.
According to UNESCO, Ukraine’s Donetsk region has suffered the most destruction of its cultural infrastructure, Russian invaders have damaged or destroyed 78 churches, museums, and historic buildings. The Kharkiv region follows with 55 churches, museums, libraries, and theaters destroyed. The Kyiv region has seen 38 sites damaged or destroyed; Luhansk has lost 33 important cultural sites and Chernihiv 17. In other Ukrainian regions, the Russians have destroyed at least one important cultural and historical heritage site. The presented data has been verified and confirmed by UNESCO experts on the spot – in contrast to the unsubstantiated statements of Russia. The tally provided by UNESCO is not final and continues to grow.
UNESCO and the UN emphasized the responsibility of the Russian army in deliberately targeting the Transfiguration Cathedral in Odesa on the night of July 23. International experts will send a mission to assess the damage caused by the Russian invaders to the center of Odesa, which also is a World Heritage Site.
In addition to the destruction of the Odesa Cathedral, UNESCO experts recorded Russian attacks on 116 religious sites throughout Ukraine. The exact number of damaged sites cannot be calculated because parts of the Lugansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions are under Russian occupation.
Ukrainian experts present even more shocking data. According to an Institute for Religious Freedom report presented during the Washington Summit on International Religious Freedom in January 2023, at least 494 religious buildings, religious educational institutions and shrines have been completely destroyed, damaged or looted as a result of Russian aggression in Ukraine.
According to the Institute, the most churches, mosques and synagogues were destroyed in the Donetsk (at least 120) and Lugansk regions (more than 70). The scale of destruction in the Kyiv (70 sites) and Kharkiv regions (more than 50 sites) is shocking. Russian air attacks have affected almost all regions of Ukraine and such attacks are continuing, experts emphasize.
Damaging and destroying Ukrainian monuments and religious sites, Russia categorically ignores international law – the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and the 1972 World Heritage Convention. Any infringement by Russia – from the looting of museum archives to rocket attacks on libraries – is considered a violation of international law and can be treated as a war crime.
