UOC Reports Widespread Destruction of Religious Heritage in Ukraine

Carmelite monastery and church in Kysylyn. Photo: UOC

KYIV — On February 4, 2026, reports and online materials revealed the widespread destruction and neglected condition of religious buildings across Ukraine, highlighting long-term inaction by government authorities, according to the UOC Information and Education Department.

Several historic sites are at risk of total loss. The 18th-century Carmelite monastery in Kysylyn, Volyn region, can reportedly only be partially conserved, while the 16th-century Nativity of the Theotokos Monastery in Novyi Zahoriv approaches complete ruin. In Ternopil, the Church of St. John of Nepomuk in Turylche has lost its roof and windows, and interiors continue to deteriorate. The Holy Trinity Church in Nevirkiv, Rivne region, is being destroyed, and the All Saints Church in Hodovytsia, Lviv region, has been declared unsafe. Other notable sites include the neo-Gothic Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, the church in Kukolnyky, Ivano-Frankivsk, and the early 19th-century Church of the Nativity of Christ in Verhuny, Poltava, which show severe structural damage and vandalism.

The reports come amid governmental decisions in January 2026 to transfer active UOC churches to secular museum status, drawing criticism over the apparent neglect of Ukraine’s religious and cultural heritage.

Previously, the UOJ reported that the St. Nicholas Cathedral in Ukraine was destroyed in an airstrike.

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