In Ukraine, there are hundreds of thousands of cultural heritage sites of various types that are listed in the national register. The most famous among them are the seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including, for example, the Saint Sophia Cathedral (XI c.) in Kyiv.

The occupation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014 already led to the massive destruction of monuments of Ukraine’s cultural heritage.

Since the first days of the war in February 2022, tens of thousands of important state artifacts have been deliberately destroyed and looted.

Losses from the Russian attack on Ukraine have been confirmed by the UNESCO Central Committee. As of 11 January 2023, UNESCO has verified damage to 235 sites since 24 February – 104 religious sites, 18 museums, 83 buildings of historical and/or artistic interest, 19 monuments, 11 libraries.

At the same time, with the active support of international organizations and with the participation of professionals, measures were taken to save the historical heritage and museum collections. France, the Netherlands and Italy sent tons of much-needed material to save monuments. The Committee for Ukrainian museums was established in Poland to preserve Ukrainian collections. The Nordic Museum in Stockholm established a fund to finance the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in Kyiv. The Save Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Online (SUCHO) project brought together more than a thousand librarians, archivists, researchers and programmers.

Ukraine continues to fight to protect and save its unique cultural heritage and hopes that the war will end soon.