loading . . . Wiki Loves Monuments… But war destroys them At the end of July 2025, there were 1528 destroyed or damaged cultural sites in Ukraine according to the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications1. And the number is growing every day. _War Destroys Monuments_ is a special category of Wiki Loves Monuments photo contest that documents the toll of Russia’s war on Ukrainian cultural heritage—out of 378 pictures from 9 regions of Ukraine submitted by 29 authors, a special jury panel selected 22 works by eight authors.
This category was held for the second time2 in 2024 after the start of the full-scale war Russia launched against Ukraine in February 2022. Documenting and raising awareness of the condition of cultural heritage is among the goals of the Wiki Loves Monuments project, and its importance became even more evident during the war, with some monuments being damaged, while Russian attacks compositely destroyed some of them.
Winners were chosen by a separate jury panel, which included Wikimedians from different countries:
* **Shreya Dwivedi** (India) — photographer, Wikimedian;
* **Asem Shakimova** (Kazakhstan) — photographer, Wikimedian;
* **Ferdinando Traversa** (Italy) — Wikipedian, Wikimedian.
The organising team developed guidelines to evaluate the pictures documenting the war’s impact on the monuments, as some damage would not be immediately visible or apparent to people who have not experienced an active war. For example, a missile or a rocket might hit nearby, and the building looks undamaged. But the windows and doors are blown out and replaced with wood planks, plastic sheets, etc., thus making monuments vulnerable to weather damage. You can find the guidelines here.
“ _Active wars create urgency in documenting and preserving knowledge, and via organising Wiki Loves Monuments photo contest volunteers can also crowdsource help to document not only the cultural heritage, but also its destruction_ ”, commented **Iryna Boiko** , communications manager of Wikimedia Ukraine.
The 2024 selected pictures of the war damaged or destroyed monuments were grouped thematically — religious, residential, educational, and other buildings.
### Temples in Wartime
Transfiguration Cathedral. Odesa. Photo © Олександр Воропаєв (Alexander Voropayev), CC BY-SA 4.0
Transfiguration Cathedral. Odesa. Photo © Олександр Воропаєв (Alexander Voropayev), CC BY-SA 4.0
Church of the Ascension. Lukashivka, Chernihiv Oblast. Photo © Nataliia Apanasenko, CC BY-SA 4.0
Church of the Ascension. Lukashivka, Chernihiv Oblast. Photo © Nataliia Apanasenko, CC BY-SA 4.0
Soborna (‘Cathedral’) square from Greek Street. Odesa. Photo © Павло Й. Шубарт (Pavlo Shubart), CC BY-SA 4.0
### Residential Buildings Under Threat
Residential Buildings. 4 Preobrazhenska street, Odesa. Photo © Павло Й. Шубарт (Pavlo Shubart), CC BY-SA 4.0
Residential Buildings. 4 Preobrazhenska street, Odesa. Photo © Павло Й. Шубарт (Pavlo Shubart), CC BY-SA 4.0
Residential Buildings. 4 Preobrazhenska street, Odesa. Photo © Олександр Воропаєв (Alexander Voropayev), CC BY-SA 4.0
Residential Buildings. 4 Preobrazhenska street, Odesa. Photo © Олександр Воропаєв (Alexander Voropayev), CC BY-SA 4.0
Residential Buildings. 4 Preobrazhenska street, Odesa. Photo © Олександр Воропаєв (Alexander Voropayev), CC BY-SA 4.0
Maslovskyi’s revenue house. Kharkiv. Photo © Serhii Bobok, CC BY-SA 4.0
### Educational Buildings under Fire
Building of the faculty of Economics of Kharkiv National University. Kharkiv. Photo © Serhii Bobok, CC BY-SA 4.0
Building of the faculty of Economics of Kharkiv National University. Kharkiv. Photo © Serhii Bobok, CC BY-SA 4.0
Building of the faculty of Economics of Kharkiv National University. Kharkiv. Photo © Serhii Bobok, CC BY-SA 4.0
Building of the Regional Youth Center. Chernihiv. Photo © Serhii Tarabara, CC BY-SA 4.0
Building of the Regional Youth Center. Chernihiv. Photo © Serhii Tarabara, CC BY-SA 4.0
Sign. School for the Blind. Kharkiv. Photo © Андрій Орлов (Andrii Orlov), CC BY-SA 4.0
### Other Buildings as Targets
Palace of Labour. Kharkiv. Photo © Альона Андреєва (Aliona Andreeva), CC BY-SA 4.0
Palace of Labour. Kharkiv. Photo © Альона Андреєва (Aliona Andreeva), CC BY-SA 4.0
Palace of Labour. Kharkiv. Photo © Альона Андреєва (Aliona Andreeva), CC BY-SA 4.0
Taras Shevchenko Theater. Chernihiv. Photo © Serhii Tarabara, CC BY-SA 4.0
Taras Shevchenko Theater. Chernihiv. Photo © Serhii Tarabara, CC BY-SA 4.0
Former District court. Chernihiv. Photo © Костянтин Буркут (Kostiantyn Burkut), CC BY-SA 4.0
Detailed description of each photo in Ukrainian here. You can see all photos in the special category here.
Wiki Loves Monuments in Ukraine also has a special category for best video works picturing cultural monuments, including the best video work of the monuments damaged or destroyed in the war3. Its separate jury consists of **Roman Barabakh,** photographer, traveler, founder of a media project Ukrainian Travels; **Oleksandr Havryk** , cameraman, editing director, Ukrainian Wikipedian; **Maksym Uvaiev** , editing director, film critic.
The best video of the 2024 edition in this subcategory shows the central palace of culture in Irpin, Kyiv Oblast, destroyed during the battle of Irpin during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It was filmed in September 2022.
Video © ViktoriaLi, CC BY-SA 4.0
**Roman Barabakh** , one of the jury members, commented about it: “ _This video is a powerful testament to the devastation inflicted by Russian aggression on the Ukrainian people and their cultural heritage. The Central House of Culture in Irpin, once a place of meetings, creativity, and city life, now lies in ruins. The video has important documentary value, as it captures historical truth for future generations._ “
## **References**
1. 1528 пам’яток культурної спадщини та 2359 об’єктів культурної інфраструктури постраждали в Україні через російську агресію (in Ukainian) ↩︎
2. War destroys monuments 2023: the toll of Russian invasion of Ukraine in a Wiki Loves Monuments special category**** ↩︎
3. Найкращі відео культурної спадщини України 2024 року (in Ukrainian) ↩︎
https://diff.wikimedia.org/2025/08/04/wiki-loves-monuments-but-war-destroys-them/
