Russia-Ukraine war: Russian attacks have destroyed 183 religious sites says report

Since Russia attacked Ukraine on February 24, at least 183 religious sites in around 14 regions of the country have been fully or partly ruined. According to the State Service for Ethnic Affairs and Freedom of Conscience, the buildings damaged as a result of the enemy attack include churches, mosques, synagogues, educational and administrative buildings of Ukraine’s religious communities.

About five of the 183 religious sites in Ukraine damaged by the Russian attack were Islamic, while five sites in the list of damaged sites were Jewish and 173 sites were Christian. Meanwhile, 73 per cent (127 sites) of all 173 Christian sites that got fully or partially ruined by the Russian attack belong to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). 

The data also revealed that 22 of the religious sites destroyed belong to various Protestant communities, 19 to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), three to the Roman Catholic Church and two to the Greek Catholic Church.

The data further disclosed that the largest number of damaged religious sites in Ukraine are in Donetsk (45) and Luhansk (40) regions followed by Kyiv (34) and Kharkiv (25) regions.

164 sites verified by UNESCO

As of July 18, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) verified damage to 164 sites since 24th February. The sites included 72 religious sites, 12 museums, 32 historic buildings, 24 buildings dedicated to cultural activities, 17 monuments and seven libraries.

Further, the UN organisation said that 47 sites were damaged in Donetsk region, 41 in Kharkiv, 26 in Kyiv, 14 in Chernihiv, 5 in Zaporizhzhya and 2 in Zhytomyr. 

"These repeated attacks on Ukrainian cultural sites must stop. Cultural heritage, in all its forms, should not be targeted under any circumstances," UNESCO'S director-general Audrey Azoulay said in a statement.

Ukraine last month even demanded that Russia should be expelled from UNESCO. Meanwhile, UNESCO has indefinitely postponed a meeting to discuss the status of World Heritage Sites that Russia was to host in June in the city of Kazan.

UNESCO has warned that if Russian troops or officials are found guilty of knowingly destroying Ukraine heritage sites, they could be prosecuted under international law.