During the meeting of the Governing Board of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe in May 2026 in Luxembourg, Olga Milinchuk presented a study, commissioned by the European Institute of Cultural Routes, on the consequences of the armed aggression by the Russian Federation on the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe in Ukraine. Based on interviews with European network coordinators and Ukrainian partners, it assesses the impact of the war on the thirteen Cultural Routes now active in Ukraine, up from three when the country joined the EPA in 2021.

While all thirteen routes have been affected, Ukrainian partners have continued to engage with European networks, maintain heritage activities and even launch new tourism initiatives. Camino Podolico, the first certified branch of the Saint James Way in Ukraine, welcomed 500 pilgrims in 2025, while other routes have faced significant disruption. The study also points to structural challenges, including the lack of national coordination, chronic underfunding, and staff losses due to mobilisation and displacement.

Its recommendations include establishing a national coordination body, targeted capacity-building, better access to European funding, stronger visibility, and a formal crisis response mechanism within the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe programme.

Read the full study here: https://rm.coe.int/report-consequences-of-the-armed-aggression-by-the-russian-federation-/48802dc07e