Minister of Culture and Information Policy Oleksandr Tkachenko has said that Russian troops are deliberately destroying the historical centers of large cities.

"Most of Putin's war crimes in Ukraine are committed from the air. In Kyiv alone, the air raid siren worked 60 times. Russian missiles and planes deliberately destroy the historical centers of large cities. Putin wants to demolish European heritage and culture, to wipe them off the face of the earth," he wrote on the Telegram channel.

The minister said that in Kharkiv, the Russian invaders fired on the Uspensky Cathedral, where people were hiding, the educational buildings of the Kharkiv National University of Arts and the dormitories of the Kharkiv State Academy of Culture, and in Ivankiv near Kyiv, the museum of the world-famous artist Maria Pryimachenko, whose works Pablo Picasso himself was fond of.

In addition, the Kyiv State Academy of Decorative Arts and Design named after Mykhailo Boychuk also received damages from the invaders.

"A mad dictator threatens to destroy St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, a UNESCO temple built in the 11th century! Hundreds of innocent victims, the total destruction of temples, cathedrals and museums - this is the price of the still uncovered sky over Ukraine," Tkachenko wrote.

The minister called on international partners to close the sky over Ukraine.