UN’s cultural body warns of international consequences
With more than 160 historical sites having already been damaged or destroyed since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the UN’s cultural agency is stressing the importance of protecting the world’s heritage during times of conflict.
It is 40 years since Unesco launched the first World Heritage Day for monuments and sites, and recently its work has become more important than ever.
Eight years since ISIS’s destruction of 80 per cent of Iraq’s historic sites in Mosul, Unesco is only just commenc
ing restoration work.
But just weeks before reconstruction work began there in March, Russia invaded Ukraine, putting yet more historic sites in jeopardy.
“We are extremely concerned about the development of the situation,” Unesco told The National.
“Very serious information has come to us, concerning other cultural sites.”
Ukraine’s culture ministry has recorded 166 cultural sites which have been destroyed or damaged as a result of Russian attacks.
Minister of Culture Oleksandr Tkachenko is this week in discussions with western governments to establish a joint fund to restore Ukraine’s cultural heritage.
“There are already 166 cultural heritage sites that were destroyed or damaged in the Russian invasion,” he said.
“We don’t know about some of the objects yet, because they are located in the occupied territories. There is evidence, we are verifying these data, and it is obvious that we are talking about reparations and restoration by the aggressor state.
“I [have] spoken with the French minister of culture. We discussed the need for creating a joint fund of our countries, countries that support us, which would be engaged in renewing and restoring cultural heritage in Ukraine after the victory.
“This is a matter of extreme importance, because the first thing Putin is fighting against, if we are not talking about people, is against culture, against our history.”
Already more than 100 international heritage organisations have refused to work with Russian cultural agencies.
He has been supported by Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of Unesco, who has sent a formal letter to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reminding him of the obligations of the Russian Federation and indicating the location data of Ukrainian heritage sites to protect them from any bombardment.
Ukraine has seven protected sites on the World Heritage list and has many more historical places it wishes to add.
It has led Unesco to highlight these areas on the world stage in a bid to protect them during the continuing conflict.
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