Ukraine marked the 32nd anniversary of the restoration of its independence on Aug. 24, even as Russian invasion forces continued to occupy around a fifth of the country’s territory.
Launched in February last year, Russia’s war against Ukraine has taken a toll on Ukraine’s culture. Russia has razed to the ground many museums and churches, destroying priceless works of art. As Russian forces blew up the Kakhovka dam, resulting in massive flooding in the south of Ukraine, the water severely damaged the house of Ukrainian self-taught artist Polina Raiko in the occupied town of Oleshky, Kherson Oblast.
The HeMo: Ukrainian Heritage Monitoring Lab has recorded damage to 55 cultural heritage buildings in Odesa following the Russian missile attacks in July. Since 28 July, a team from different cities in Ukraine, including Lviv, Drohobych, Kharkiv, Kherson and Kyiv, has been working on documenting the damage caused by Russian missiles in Odesa.
Earlier this year, Ukraine s Ministry of Culture announced plans to remove the Soviet emblem from the Motherland s shield and replacing it with a trident - the emblem of Ukraine s coat of arms