Ukraine Culture Conference Reveals 1,333 Cultural Heritage Sites Destroyed

On Friday 31 January 2025, Luxembourg’s Minister of Culture, Eric Thill, addressed the Ukraine Culture Conference in Uzhhorod, Ukraine.

The conference, to which Minister Thill was invited by Ukraine’s Minister of Culture and Strategic Communications, Mykola Tochytskyi, saw approximately 40 partner states meet from Friday 31 January to Sunday 2 February 2025.

As reported by Luxembourg’s Ministry of Culture, the conference, described by Minister Tochytskyi as a “cultural Ramstein”, aimed to establish a broad cultural coalition in support of Ukraine, its cultural sector and the preservation and restoration of its cultural heritage. The press statement added that Ukrainian culture is a direct target in Russia’s war of aggression, which is consciously seeking to destroy the cultural identity of Ukraine and its citizens. It revealed that as of Saturday 1 February 2025, the 1,074th day of the war, Ukraine had 2,155 cultural infrastructures and 1,333 cultural heritage sites destroyed or damaged.

The ministry added that, in the presence of European Commissioner Glenn Micallef and UNESCO representatives, the Culture Ministers wanted to send a strong and unequivocal message of political, financial and practical support to Ukraine in a joint effort to rebuild infrastructure, institutions and cultural heritage sites.

During his speech, Minister Thill emphasised the role of artists in defending Ukrainian identity, stating that culture plays an essential role in democratic societies: "Culture and the diversity of culture in Europe are indeed a key element of the European identity, based on common values, and I think that should be a strong message coming out of our meeting today". He recalled that this is also what Luxembourg is putting forward as part of its current presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. 

He also supported the call for taking culture even more into account in the framework of the Ukraine Recovery Conference, to be held in Rome in July 2025. The initiative of the conference is described as being part of Ukraine's Internal Resilience Plan, announced by President Volodymyr Zelensky in November 2024, where cultural sovereignty is one of ten priorities.

At the end of their consultations and exchanges, the Culture Ministers and representatives of the participating States adopted the Declaration on Strengthening the Resilience of the Cultural Sector in Ukraine. The main points of the declaration identified in the press release are:

- participants will consider the possibility and mechanisms for establishing a Fund for Ukrainian Heritage to support the restoration and preservation of Ukrainian cultural heritage;
- launching a coalition against illicit trafficking of cultural property. This will involve the establishment of a framework to protect cultural property, develop insurance mechanisms and strengthen international cooperation to combat illicit trafficking of cultural property;
- encouraging the imposition of disciplinary and criminal sanctions against individuals and organisations responsible for violations against Ukrainian cultural heritage; 
- establishing the Platform for Reconstruction in which a group of experts will develop guidelines to integrate the preservation of cultural heritage into the reconstruction process, ensuring sustainable urban development while preserving cultural identity.

Minister Thill also met with Minister Tochytskyi to identify additional avenues for concrete cooperation between Ukraine and Luxembourg. Since 2022, Luxembourg has supported the Ukrainian artistic scene through an annual scholarship programme managed by the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation, as well as by contributing to the European Solidarity Fund for Ukrainian Films. The two ministers agreed to work together to implement jointly achievable measures within a short timeframe.