Almost 2 thousand cultural heritage sites suffered due to the aggression of the Russian Federation

In Ukraine, damage or destruction of 1990 cultural heritage sites was recorded as a result of unlawful actions by representatives of the Russian Armed Forces. In connection with the facts of destruction, prosecutors together with law enforcement officers reported suspicion to 11 representatives of the Russian Armed Forces under Art. 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, according to the website of the Prosecutor General’s Office.

Separately, crimes against cultural heritage are documented in the temporarily occupied territories, where Russia not only damages monuments, but also seizes and appropriates cultural values. One such fact is the looting of the monument “Medieval Solkhat Settlement” (Stary Krym) by Russian archaeologist Mark Kramarovskyі and former researcher of the Republican Higher Educational Institution “Crimean Engineering and Pedagogical University” Emil Seydaliev.

According to the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, among the cultural heritage sites that have been damaged by Russian aggression: 192 sites of national importance; 1,605 sites of local importance; 193 newly discovered cultural heritage sites.

47 sites of cultural heritage were completely destroyed – one of national importance, 44 of local importance and two newly discovered. Another 1,943 sites were damaged.

The largest number of damaged sites is recorded in Kharkiv (358), Kherson (303) regions, Kyiv (272), Donetsk (229) and Odessa (211) regions.