38 Ukrainian museums were destroyed or damaged by the war, more than 480,000 works of art were stolen by the Russians

Since the start of the full-scale invasion, at least 38 Ukrainian museums, which house 1.5 million works of art, have been destroyed or damaged. According to the estimates of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, more than 480,000 works of art were captured by Russia.

Since the start of the full-scale invasion, at least 38 Ukrainian museums, housing 1.5 million works, have been damaged or destroyed. Maryana Tomyn, director of the Department of Cultural Heritage of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, told about the number of destroyed museum exhibits.

Since the start of the full-scale invasion, at least 38 Ukrainian museums, housing 1.5 million works, have been damaged or destroyed. Many Ukrainian museums relied on paper catalogs, which are often outdated or incomplete, which makes it difficult to count what was looted and destroyed by Russia – The Economist quoted Tomin as saying.

The information policy of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine notes that the data on destroyed museum exhibits are approximate, because not all museum treasures are digitized. Most regional museums relied on paper catalogues, often outdated or incomplete. During the occupation, some of these catalogs disappeared. That is why efforts to digitize museum treasures, which began in Ukraine three years ago, have now gained new relevance.

The occupiers took more than 28,000 artifacts from the Kherson museum alone. Ancient coins, Greek sculptures, Scythian jewelry, a precious Bukhara saber — and even hard drives with the museum’s catalog — have disappeared.

It is almost impossible to determine the price of the stolen works, since only a part of the museum’s valuables has been valued for insurance purposes. In April 2023, the UN estimated that the war had caused damage to Ukraine’s cultural heritage worth $2.6 billion.

According to the estimates of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, more than 480,000 works of art fell into the hands of Russians. At least 38 museums, housing nearly 1.5 million works, were damaged or destroyed.

Ukraine will seek compensation. The Kyiv prosecutor’s office is investigating Russian officials and Ukrainians involved in the embezzlement. Maryana Tomin announced to journalists that she is working on a new law on restitution and revision of the outdated law on the protection of cultural heritage. And since the end of October, the army’s special unit began to monitor the damage to cultural objects. But there is little hope of returning what was stolen by the occupiers.

Earlier, the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine reported that 872 monuments of cultural heritage of Ukraine were destroyed or damaged due to Russian aggression in Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.

In addition, as of December 25, 2023, 1,907 objects of cultural infrastructure were damaged. Total losses of state-owned cultural institutions: 23 objects (9%); communal form of ownership: 1,884 objects (6%).