Unesco body holds Russia responsible for destruction of Ukrainian cultural heritage

In a win for Ukraine in protecting its cultural heritage sites amidst war, Unesco’s World Heritage Committee at its ongoing 46th session here in New Delhi voted to accept Kyiv-backed resolutions. The documents pertain to the preservation of the Historic Centre of Odesa; Lviv – The Ensemble of the Historic Centre; and the Saint-Sophia Cathedral and related Monastic Buildings in Kyiv-Pechersk. The resolutions call on “the Russian Federation to refrain from any action that would cause direct or indirect damage to the property and its buffer zone and wider setting, as well as to cultural heritage in Ukraine overall”.

Kazakhstan had moved amendments to the resolutions that dropped references to Russia and its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. But these were defeated in a vote through secret ballot among the 21 state parties to the current World Heritage Committee, which include India, Japan, Belgium, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Turkiye, Mexico, Ukraine and Vietnam.

“By now we have calculated 1,085 heritage sites being destroyed or damaged due to the Russian aggression. It’s also important to mention that it’s not only the sites themselves that are facing destruction. There are also cultural organisations and establishments like theatres, museums, philharmonics, art schools etc that have been suffering because of the war imposed on us,” said Anastasia Bondar, deputy minister of culture and information policy of Ukraine who is heading the Ukrainian delegation at the committee meeting.

India is hosting the World Heritage Committee Meeting for the first time from July 21-31. The committee meets annually and is responsible for managing all matters related to world heritage and decides on sites to be included in the world heritage list. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the meet and stressed on India’s commitment to promoting global cooperation towards heritage conservation.