More than 500 cultural heritage sites have been damaged in Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, EU Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport Glenn Micallef said at a press briefing in Brussels.

According to him, citing UNESCO, Russian attacks have already damaged 485 cultural sites in total.

“Estimates for recovery and reconstruction needs in the culture and tourism sectors alone have already exceeded nine billion euros,” the Commissioner added.

In addition, according to him, the attacks are not limited to Ukraine’s tangible cultural heritage.

“Ukraine’s intangible cultural heritage is being subjected to organised disinformation campaigns on an ongoing basis. It is a barbaric attack on Ukrainian sovereignty. It is a conscious decision to destroy the identity, unity, and morale of Ukraine and its people,” Micallef said.

In turn, Ukraine’s Minister of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine Mykola Tochytskyi said Russia had damaged or completely destroyed 2,333 cultural infrastructure facilities.

He said 1,482 cultural heritage sites have been destroyed in Ukraine in total, including historical monuments, churches, theaters, museums, libraries.

“Many of them are of national or even global significance, including UNESCO cultural heritage sites such as Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv and the historic center of Odesa, which was damaged yet again just two days ago. And of course the Derzhprom building in Kharkiv, which has been targeted multiple times over these three and a half years of war,” Tochytskyi noted.

The officials said they have established the Ukraine Heritage Response Fund — a coordination mechanism aimed at ensuring long-term assistance in preserving and restoring Ukraine’s cultural heritage.

The official presentation of the Fund is scheduled to be held at the Ukraine Recovery Conference on July 10–11, 2025 in Rome.

Russia is destroying Ukraine’s cultural heritage 

Several years ago, Russian missiles hit the historic center of Odesa. In particular, the Transfiguration Cathedral was partially destroyed.

At that time, UNESCO strongly condemned the Russian attack on cultural sites in central Odesa, where the World Heritage Site “Historic Center of Odesa” is located.

In addition, as Tochytskyi said earlier, around 2 million cultural valuables are under occupation.

Earlier this year, Ukraine’s parliament released a report on what is stopping it from fully protecting its cultural heritage sites.