Monitoring the state of archaeological heritage objects in Ukraine is a challenge. The search for and recognition of sites is difficult because they exist in an ‘unmanifested’ state. The vast majority of archaeological sites are not included on the State Register of Immovable Monuments of Ukraine. Moreover, the necessary monument protection measures are not applied consistently throughout all territories. The specificity of archaeological sites is that their discovery is often directly related to catastrophic events: in the current case, the destruction of landscape resulting from military operations.