Russia has looted over 35,000 museum artifacts — Berezhna

Russia continues to systematically remove Ukrainian cultural artifacts from the temporarily occupied territories and is attempting to integrate them into its own cultural sphere.

This was stated by Deputy Prime Minister for Humanitarian Policy and Minister of Culture Tetiana Berezhna.

According to her, over 35,000 museum artifacts have already been stolen, and more than 1.7 million remain in the occupied territories.

Additionally, as a result of the war, 1,723 cultural heritage sites and approximately 2,500 cultural infrastructure facilities have been damaged or destroyed, of which 513 have been completely destroyed.

Berezhna reported that international partners have allocated 100 million hryvnias to Ukraine to support culture. The funds are directed to a special fund that accumulates aid for the preservation and restoration of cultural heritage.

According to her, the total funding for the fund already amounts to approximately 5 million euros.

She also noted that in 2025, over 100,000 museum artifacts were successfully evacuated.

In February 2026, the government approved procedures for the evacuation of cultural assets—a mandatory evacuation zone was established within a 50-kilometer radius of the front line.

In addition, the digitization of cultural heritage is ongoing in Ukraine: 40% of monuments of national significance have already been entered into the state register, and 60% of museums are digitizing their collections.

The Ukrainian language is preparing for the next phase of reform. Deputy Prime Minister for Humanitarian Policy and Minister of Culture Tetiana Berezhna announced that the text of the new Ukrainian spelling rules has already been prepared and will be published shortly.