Cultural pearl of Kherson worth 18 million returned from private hands

In Kherson, the state has returned the building of a planetarium and a cinema lecture hall, which was illegally transferred to a public organization in 2019. After winning a court case, the Kherson Regional State Administration officially registered the property right.

This was reported by the press service of the Kherson Regional Prosecutor's Office.

Thanks to the actions of prosecutors, the building of the Kherson Planetarium and Cinema Lecture Hall was returned to state ownership.

This facility, located in the city center, was illegally withdrawn from state ownership in 2019 and transferred to a public organization. After discovering the violations, the prosecutor's office launched a legal battle that resulted in a victory for the state: the decision of the appellate instance, confirmed by the Supreme Court, ordered the return of the building, which covers almost 675 m² and is worth more than UAH 18 million.

The prosecutor's office oversaw the execution of the decision. Following the relevant order of the Cabinet of Ministers, the Kherson Regional State Administration received the right to manage the facility and officially registered its ownership.

According to law enforcement officials, the return of this architectural monument will allow it to be preserved as part of the cultural heritage and used to develop the city's educational space.

In Kyiv, a mural with a quote by Kherson activist Kateryna Handziuk, which was painted over the day before, has recently been restored on Poshtova Square. Activists see this as an attempt to erase the memory of the public figure who was killed in the attack.

In March 2025, with the support of the Embassy of Japan and UNESCO, representatives of the NGO Amadoka, together with the Khortytsia National Reserve, conducted an expedition to the Kherson region to record the extent of the destruction of cultural heritage. As part of the project, 42 archaeological sites were examined, and 56 in total for the entire period, including four that have the status of monuments of national importance.

Kherson region is among the most affected regions of the country, with numerous cultural sites damaged by Russian shelling. In total, more than two thousand such sites have been destroyed across Ukraine.

Анна Бальчінос