Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had killed about 120 representatives of religious institutions and damaged or destroyed about 800 religious buildings as he answered claims that Kyiv persecutes religious minorities.
He said some affected religious buildings were about 1,000 years old and described attacks involving drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles. Zelensky characterized the attacks as deliberate.
He did not identify those counted among the 120 or explain how the estimate was calculated. The interview did not independently establish the death toll or provide incident details supporting his claim of intentional targeting. Zelensky also gave no breakdown of the roughly 800 buildings between those destroyed and those damaged.
The exchange came during Zelensky's interview with Tony Perkins on This Week on Capitol Hill, after a question about accusations by U.S. commentators, including Tucker Carlson, that Kyiv persecutes religious minorities. Zelensky pointed to Ukraine's interfaith council in response.
UNESCO listed 567 cultural sites in Ukraine as confirmed damaged as of Oct. 28, 2026, including 165 religious sites. The agency says it checks damage reports against several sources it considers credible.
The UNESCO tally is not directly comparable with Zelensky's estimate. It covers cultural property and counts sites whose damage has been confirmed, while Zelensky's figure concerns religious buildings and combines those destroyed with those damaged. The different scopes and counting methods mean the UNESCO figure cannot confirm or refute his roughly 800 total.
Ukraine's President's Office said Russian forces had struck 740 religious buildings as of June 28, 2026, including the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra and the Assumption Cathedral. That earlier official figure uses a separate date and describes buildings struck, rather than breaking them down as destroyed or damaged. Together, the figures offer separate snapshots of reported harm to religious buildings and cultural sites.
