Since the onset of Russia’s full-scale invasion over three years ago, Ukraine has faced significant threats to its cultural heritage, with numerous artworks and artifacts looted from museums and cultural institutions. In April 2022, Ukrainian officials reported that Russian forces seized over 2,000 unique exhibits from museums in the occupied city of Mariupol.

This collection included original works by 19th-century Mariupol native Arkhip Kuindzhi, renowned Russian romantic painter Ivan Aivazovsky, a handwritten Torah scroll, and an 1811 Gospel from a Venetian printing house. These items were reportedly moved to areas within the Russian-controlled Donbas region.

As of January 2025, UNESCO has verified damage to 476 cultural properties in Ukraine, encompassing cathedrals, museums, monuments, and libraries. The Ukrainian Heritage Monitoring Lab estimates the toll to be higher, having documented more than 1,200 damaged cultural heritage sites and infrastructures across the country. Experts and historians assert that many of these sites have been deliberately targeted by Russian forces, aiming to undermine Ukrainian identity.

In response, Ukrainian historians and museum professionals have undertaken significant efforts to safeguard and recover stolen artworks. Historian Leonid Marushchak, co-founder of the NGO, Museum Open for Renovation, has evacuated nearly 2 million artifacts, including paintings and sculptures, from frontline areas, often under perilous conditions.

One notable rescue involved a stone lion sculpture, potentially up to 1,000 years old, from a museum in Bakhmut, a city heavily contested during the conflict. These endeavours underscore the ongoing struggle to protect and reclaim Ukraine’s cultural heritage amidst the ongoing conflict.

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