24th July, 2023
By Cecilia Ologunagba
Senior UN officials criticised the deadly Russian missile strikes on the Ukrainian city of Odesa, which damaged several historic buildings.
Russia has taken out aircraft attacks on Odesa and two additional port cities, Chornomorsk and Mykolaiv, in the week following cancelling the historic Black Sea Initiative on grain and fertiliser shipments.
According to international media, at least one person was murdered and more than 20 were injured in Sunday’s attack.
The attack also harmed important cultural sites in Odesa, notably the Transfiguration Cathedral, the city’s first and foremost Orthodox cathedral.
The Cathedral was founded in 1794 and is located in Odesa’s historic core.
It was added to the World Heritage List in January and is managed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
In a statement issued by his office, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly condemned the attack.
“In addition to the appalling toll the war is taking on civilian lives, this is yet another attack in an area protected under the world Heritage Convention in violation of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict,” it said.
Guterres also expressed concern about the war’s increasing threat to Ukrainian culture and heritage.
UNESCO has verified damage to 270 cultural sites, including 116 religious sites, since the start of the Russian invasion on Feb. 24, 2022.
“The secretary-general urges the Russian Federation to immediately cease attacks against cultural property protected by widely ratified international normative instruments.
“The Secretary-General also continues to urge immediate cessation of all attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure,” he said.
UNESCO was deeply dismayed by the attack, which it condemned in the strongest terms.
A mission will be deployed to Odesa in the coming days to conduct a preliminary assessment of damages.
The agency said this action follows other recent attacks that impacted cultural heritage in areas of Lviv and Odesa that are protected under the World Heritage Convention.
“This outrageous destruction marks an escalation of violence against cultural heritage of Ukraine,” Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO Director-General, said.
She urged Russia to take meaningful action to comply with its obligations under international law, including with regard to the protection of cultural property during armed conflict.
Furthermore, the attacks contradict recent statements by Russian authorities concerning precautions taken to spare World Heritage sites in Ukraine, including their buffer zones, the agency said, adding that intentional destruction of cultural sites may amount to a war crime.
In response to the war, UNESCO is working to promote the protection of cultural institutions in Ukraine, along with other actions such as denouncing violence against journalists and supporting the maintenance of education.
Azoulay was in Odesa in April where she met with World Heritage site managers and stakeholders from the cultural sector.
She took stock of emergency actions by UNESCO to protect cultural heritage threatened by the conflict.
Speaking at the time, she said nearly seven billion dollars would be required over the next decade to rebuild the cultural sector in Ukraine.
NAN