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The war in Ukraine caused total or partial damage to at least 80 locations of historical, cultural or religious value in the country, informs Unesco in a preliminary survey updated until last Wednesday (6).
They are museums, theaters, churches, monuments and other structures located in eight regions of the country and that have been directly or indirectly affected by the attacks since the beginning of the Russian invasion, on February 24.
The balance provided to Sheet by the UN arm for education and culture, lists the damaged sites that the entity was able to confirm after checking complaints received mainly from Ukrainian government authorities.
The information was cross-referenced with other information from United Nations bodies, news agencies and NGOs. “Our experts rely on photos, videos, satellite images and any other document that can help to prove the veracity of the destruction,” the Paris-based UNESCO office explained to the report.
So far, the entity has reported damage to 36 religious buildings, 27 historic buildings, ten monuments, six museums and a library.
The largest number of affected facilities are in the Kharkiv region, Ukraine’s second largest city and recognized by UNESCO as a Creative City for Music.
Understand: Located in eastern Ukraine, Kharkiv has been a prime target for Vladimir Putin’s forces in an attempt to dominate the region and create a land corridor between Russia and the territory of Crimea, annexed by Moscow in 2014.
In the city, UNESCO cites among the 22 cultural sites damaged the Drobitski Yar memorial, a tribute to the Ukrainian Jews murdered there during the Nazi occupation of the Soviet Union in World War II. There, a sculpture in the shape of a chandelier is burned and had its arms broken after an attack attributed to Russia on the 26th.
Also on the list are the headquarters of the Kharkiv National Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet Art Museum and Theater. UNESCO does not detail the degree of damage in each location and says that a more in-depth analysis will be carried out before the release of the definitive list.
Still in the east, one of the most emblematic episodes of the destruction and humanitarian tragedy caused by the conflict that is approaching 50 days is the theater in Mariupol. Ukraine estimates that around 300 people trying to protect themselves from Russian troops there died after an airstrike on March 16. The Kremlin denies the action.
In the Kiev region, the Ivankiv Museum of Local History was hit on February 27. The place housed works by the renowned painter Maria Primachenko (1909-1997), one of the main ones in the country. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry declared that 25 of the artist’s works were set on fire, but there is no confirmation from other sources. In all, damage was reported to 13 facilities in and around the capital.
UNESCO points out that none of the sites registered so far are classified as World Heritage Sites, the highest recognition of the UN body. In this category, Ukraine has:
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6 recognized places as World Cultural Heritage;
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1 recognized place as World Natural Heritage;
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4 citations in the list Intangible or Intangible Cultural Heritagewhich encompasses knowledge, traditions and other representative practices of a people.
War crime
The protection of cultural property in armed conflicts is supported by international norms such as the 1954 Hague Convention, created in the context of the analysis of the destruction caused by the Second World War.
Under the agreement, signed by Russia and Ukraine, the countries committed to:
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in conflictrespect cultural property located both in its own territory and in the territory of the opponent;
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in peace timeprepare the safeguarding of cultural property located in its own territory against the foreseeable consequences of an armed conflict.
Another important rule is the Rome Statute (1998), which governs the ICC (International Criminal Court). The text includes among the elements that constitute war crimes promoting intentional attacks against buildings dedicated to religion, education, art, science and historical monuments that are not military objectives.
And there has already been a case of conviction for damages to world historical heritage.
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In a landmark ruling in 2016, the ICC sentenced a member of the extremist group Ansar Dine to nine years in prison for leading attacks that destroyed mausoleums and damaged a mosque in Mali.
intangible losses
Researcher Izabela Tamaso, a professor at UFG (Federal University of Goiás) and specialist in heritage preservation, recalls that the importance of cultural assets goes beyond the official recognition of entities such as UNESCO or the Ukrainian government itself.
“These are affective patrimonies that are being destroyed”, he says. Proof of this is the mobilization of Ukrainians who built barricades to protect statues and buildings. “It is very representative of how a people identify what is a heritage for them and try to protect it as if it were their own life.”
Tamaso, a member of the Advisory Board of Iphan (Institute of National Historic and Artistic Heritage), says that the greatest loss related to cultural heritage in times of war is on intangible assets — such as traditions, knowledge and crafts that are no longer transmitted due to the death of peoples or even the displacement of their population.
More than 4.6 million people have left Ukraine since the invasion began, according to the UN, and another 7.1 million have had to move internally to flee the conflict.
“On top of a material good resides an intangible good, and every intangible good only exists with the support of materiality. In war, we lose this set”, says the researcher.
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