Russia began the full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War that began in 2014. It is the largest military attack in Europe since World War II. During the fighting, many pieces of Ukrainian cultural heritage were either destroyed, damaged, or put at risk due to the widespread destruction across the country. This deliberate destruction and looting of over 500 Ukrainian cultural heritage sites is considered as a war crime and has been described by Ukraine's Minister of Culture as cultural genocide.

Legal protections Cultural property enjoys special protection under international humanitarian law. The first protocol of the Geneva Convention and the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (both binding on the Ukraine and Russia settlements) prohibit states parties from using historic monuments to support their military effort or making them the objects of acts of hostility or reprisals. The Second Protocol to the Hague Convention allows attacks on cultural property only in case of "imperative military necessity" when there is no feasible alternative. Attacks against cultural heritage amount to war crimes and can be prosecuted before the International Criminal Court.

Notable sites

Prior to the invasion, Ukraine had seven United Nation Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Sites, including the St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, and the Historic Center of Lviv. Additional sites in Kharkiv (Derzhprom), Mykolaiv (Observatory) and Chernihiv (Transfiguration and Boris and Gleb cathedrals) are on the tentative list.

In late April 2022, Politico reported that Ukraine had registered the shipwreck of the Russian cruiser Moskva as an "underwater cultural heritage" site.

Conservation efforts

Domestic

The director of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in Kyiv, Fedir Androshchuk, worked with two colleagues to conserve and safe guard the museum from attack and potential looting. Androschuck also reported that four other museums in Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Sumy and Chernihiv had managed to remove, store and protect their main exhibitions with the museum in Vinnytsia used as a displaced persons housing. An artist collective; Asortymentna kimnata (Assorted Room, based at the Ivano-Frankivsk Contemporary Art Center, created several bunkers and worked with galleries in Kyiv, Mariupol, Odesa, Zaporizhzhia and elsewhere to evacuate and preserve pieces from the galleries.

Many monuments and memorials were protected with bags of sand or wrapped in various materials. In Kyiv, approximately 28 objects were protected in this way as of mid-April. Residents in Lviv attempted to help preserve several stone statues and fountains that could not be dismantled, by wrapping them in plastic, foam and other materials. Additional efforts were photographed and posted by the Lviv Foundation for the Preservation of Architectural and Historical Monuments of wooden frames and boards being used to protect monuments and church stained glass windows.

On 28 March an NFT museum launched by the Ministry of Digital Transformation to help preserve the statehood and history of Ukraine, with all proceeds to go to the ministry. The site, Ukrainian MetaHistory NFT-Museum, would include a "warline" or timeline of events with a corresponding NFT, which would include a tweet regarding a significant moment in the war and an illustration by a Ukrainian artist. By 1 April, about $600,000 had been raised through the sale of the NFTs, with the funds slated to help rebuild museums, theaters and others cultural institutions that had been destroyed or damaged.

Many of cultural heritage objects being protected in Ukraine from Russian invasion are objects of Russian culture.

International Shortly after the invasion, UNESCO announced that they were working to mark any possible key historic monuments and sites across the country with the emblem of the 1954 Hague Convention, the internationally recognized symbol for the protection of cultural heritage in an armed conflict. The organization would also work with the country's museum directors to coordinate conservation efforts to protect collections and monitor any damage to cultural sites through satellite imaging. Shortly after the invasion, officials with the International Council of Museums began to document artifacts and pieces that law enforcement might come across if they were moved illegally across national borders.

Cultural institutions in Poland offered aid, through the Committee for Aid to Museums of Ukraine created shortly after the invasion. The Committee offered support to all museums and cultural institutions in Ukraine to support and secure their collections as well as documentation, digitalization and inventory of collections. The aid from other institutions continued throughout the war. In May 2022 the Czech Ministry of Culture commissioned the National Museum of Prague to send packing materials such as bubble wrap and polyethylene foam along with safety equipment such as fire extinguishers and oriented strand boards to block windows. International organizations such as the Ukraine Art Aid Center (based in Germany, supported by the German government, among others) and ALIPH (based in Switzerland) have also been active in providing emergency aid since spring 2022.

In March 2022, an effort to back up and preserve potentially endangered data and technology of Ukraine's cultural institutions began as Saving Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Online (SUCHO).

In November 2025, it was announced by the European Commission that it and twenty-two member states would be creating a committee to support the preservation of Ukrainian culture. The European Union also donated an additional €2 million to support the cultural sector of Ukraine with about €48 million donated since the war began.

In February 2026, Japan announced $3.8 million in additional aid to assist Ukraine in repairing cultural assets that had been damaged during the war during a meeting in Kyiv between Japanese Ambassador Nakagome Masashi, Ukrainian officials, and representatives of UNESCO.

Exhibitions The Ukrainian Cultural Center in East Hollywood, Los Angeles, California hosted an arts fundraiser which highlighted works by Ukrainian artists in LA in an art exhibit and silent auction as well as a concert, which included the work of late Myroslav Skoryk. Organizers stated that all proceeds will be donated towards humanitarian aid in Ukraine, and hope that the cultural heritage and language would be passed on to another generation. Others, both refugees and transplants, have embraced traditions and traditional clothing during holidays, outside of Ukraine to show support and resilience against the invasion.

During a Milan furniture fair in June 2022, Ukrainian designers Victoria Yakusha and Kateryna Sokolova, highlighted the cultural heritage and symbolisms of Ukraine with their pieces. Sokolova stated her pieces were created in an effort to avoid "Ukrainian design being wiped off the world map" while Yakusha claims her mission is to "show the world the creativity and beauty of Ukrainian culture and thus assert the identity."

The Backup Ukraine project in partnership with Virtue Media Group VICE, Blue Shield Danmark and the Danish National Commission for UNESCO was announced in May 2022. It is proposed to use the application to scan objects in Ukraine, which will then be converted into a 3D model and uploaded to a cloud database for backup.

An exhibition opened in Toronto, Canada opened in February 2026 titled "Postcards from Ukraine" where visitors to the Toronto City Hall could view the damage done by Russia to Ukrainian cultural monuments as well as the importance for preserving the cultural history.

Damage

On 16 October 2024, UNESCO has verified damage of 457 objects: 143 religious sites, 231 buildings of historical and/or artistic interest, 32 museums, 33 monuments, 17 libraries, 1 archive. This list contains only cases known from multiple credible sources, and does not contain superficial damages, like broken windows and doors.

Ministry of Culture of Ukraine as of 5 January 2023 reported 1189 cases of damage or destruction of cultural objects, including 563 "creative hubs", 453 libraries, 63 museums and galleries, 18 theaters and philharmonic halls, and 92 institutions of art education. 21 of them were regarded as memorials of national significance. About 100 objects were destroyed completely or almost completely. Cultural Heritage Monitoring Lab at Virginia Museum of Natural History found evidence of 458 damaged cultural sites as of 10 June 2022. The New York Times Visual Investigations team compiling a list of about 339 buildings, monuments and other cultural institutions that had been partially or totally destroyed by December 2022, with primary attention given to the Donbas region.

On 25 February 2022, Ivankiv Historical and Local History Museum, about fifty miles from the capital, burned to the ground after a Russian bombardment. The museum contained folk artwork, including paintings by Maria Prymachenko and textile works by Hanna Veres. Some paintings and other items were saved from the burning building by locals. The number of artworks by Prymachenko, Veres, and other artists that were destroyed or damaged is unknown.

The Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center, which was under construction, was damaged on 1 March 2022. A museum building at the center suffered structural damage and the adjacent cemetery was damaged also. Other elements of the site, including the synagogue and menorah sculpture, were undamaged. The Kyiv Small Opera building suffered damage on 15 March.

The Dormition Cathedral in Kharkiv was damaged during the battle of Kharkiv. Artwork and stained glass in the cathedral were damaged by a cruise missile that also damaged the Kharkiv city center. The Slovo Building in Kharkiv was also damaged by Russian military actions, as well as a memorial in Drobytsky Yar on the outskirts of Kharkiv dedicated to Holocaust victims. On 7 March, the exterior of the Kharkiv Art Museum received some damage, and while the exhibitions were not damaged, they continued to face danger from street and air attacks. Many modern-era buildings received damage, including the Kharkiv Regional Administration building, Kharkiv City Council, the Opera & Ballet Theatre and the Faculty of Economics building of Kharkiv University.

Another severely damaged city of Kharkiv region was Izium, where historical buildings, churches, memorials, as well as Polovtsian stone sculptures of 9th-13th centuries, were damaged or destroyed in the battle for the city.

In March 2022, Russian shelling destroyed three wooden churches built in the 19th century: St. George's Church in Zavorychi, the Church of the Nativity of the Theotokos in Viazivka and the Church of the Ascension in Lukianivka.Ворог спалив Свято-Георгіївську церкву в Заворичах // Телеканал ATR, 07.03.2022 These churches were all part of the Moscow Patriarchate. The Sviatohirsk Cave Monastery was damaged by airstrikes and shelling several times between 12 March 2022 and early June, when the area was captured by Russia. Several churches of the monastery were destroyed completely and other buildings were damaged. The first bombing also wounded several of the roughly 520 refugees seeking at the monastery.

The Donetsk Regional Drama Theatre, built in 1960, was largely destroyed by Russian airstrikes on 16 March 2022. On 23 March 2022 it was announced that the Kuindzhi Art Museum, which was dedicated to artist Arkhip Kuindzhi and held other Ukrainian artists works was reportedly destroyed, although some of the works had been removed beforehand. In September, Russia also sent a rocket into the courtyard of the Mykolaiv Academic Art Drama Theater, causing significant damage.