Ukraine has accused Russia of deliberately targeting its cultural heritage in what Ukrainian officials describe as a systematic campaign aimed at erasing Ukrainian identity. Tetyana Berezhna, Ukraine’s minister for culture and deputy prime minister for humanitarian policy, said Moscow’s actions encompass damage to Unesco-protected heritage sites, destruction of cultural institutions, and looting of artefacts.
Over the summer, Russian drone strikes hit several Ukrainian religious landmarks, including the 975-year-old Dormition Cathedral of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra and St Sophia’s Cathedral, an 11th-century architectural treasure. Both are listed as Unesco world heritage sites. Berezhna described the attack on the Dormition Cathedral as a blow not only to Ukraine’s religious tradition but also to its national history, as the site was historically supported by Ukrainian rulers.
On the same night as the attack on the cathedral, a warehouse at a Ukrainian film studio storing three million costume requisites was reportedly destroyed by fire. In addition, Berezhna accused Russian forces of repeatedly targeting book warehouses, distribution centers, and printing houses, resulting in the loss of approximately 13 million books, including half a million school textbooks intended for the new academic year.
According to official Ukrainian statistics, since the conflict escalated in 2022, 569 cultural heritage sites have been completely destroyed and another 2,139 damaged. The Ukrainian government says the use of “double-tap” strikes—follow-up attacks on the same sites—and repeated assaults on publishing centers indicate an intentional strategy to dismantle Ukrainian cultural infrastructure.
The campaign is said to extend beyond physical destruction to the appropriation of cultural artefacts in occupied territories. Berezhna alleged that nearly 40,000 Ukrainian objects have been removed and taken to Russian museums in Moscow and St. Petersburg, where they are misrepresented as part of Russian history. She emphasized the need to evacuate museum items located within 50 kilometers of active conflict zones to protect them from further harm.
Describing the cultural destruction as part of a broader historical pattern, Berezhna linked it to longstanding Russian imperial and Soviet-era policies aimed at undermining Ukrainian nationhood. In a related development, she recently worked with the Victoria and Albert Museum in London to reclassify several Ukrainian artefacts previously mislabeled as Russian and include them in the exhibition "Sacred Treasures from Kyiv."
Legal experts documenting Russian war crimes suggest the destruction of cultural heritage may constitute evidence of genocide. British barrister Alex Perzanti commented that the targeted nature of attacks raises questions about Moscow’s stated objectives of demilitarization and "denazification," pointing to the absence of military value in books, churches, and museums.
The ongoing attacks on cultural sites and institutions have drawn calls from Ukrainian officials, legal experts, and international observers for a coordinated global response to protect Ukraine’s cultural heritage amid the conflict.