Hundreds of Ukrainian monuments that are under threat or damaged due to war have been documented

Scientists from the German cities of Marburg and Hanover, together with Ukrainian photographers, documented 250 architectural monuments that are under threat or affected by the Russian war against Ukraine.

Since the start of the project in October 2022, photographers have taken a total of about 3,700 pictures of the exteriors and interiors of historically and culturally significant buildings in cities, including Kyiv, Odesa, and Zaporizhzhia, said Christian Bracht, director of the German Art History Documentation Center.

Among these objects is the Transfiguration Cathedral in the historic center of Odessa, which suffered from Russian attacks this summer.

If the buildings are destroyed, the images will provide a reliable basis for reconstruction, scientific documentation and cultural memory, Bracht said.

According to the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, as of December 1 this year, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia, 863 objects of cultural heritage have been destroyed or damaged: 119 of them are monuments of national significance, 674 are of local significance, and 70 have just been discovered.