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As the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues to intensify, displacing more than a million people and killing many civilians, UNESCO says it is “gravely concerned” about threats to Ukraine’s cultural heritage.
The Eastern European country is home to seven sites inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, in addition to the eleventh-century Hagia Sophia Cathedral in Kiev, considered to be “one of the best” examples of early Russian-Byzantine ecclesiastical architecture, according to the Encyclopedia. Britannica and the historic city center of Lviv. In a statement, UNESCO expressed in particular its fear over the recent damage to the cities of Kharkiv and Chernihiv, which are home to sites on Ukraine’s “tentative list” for possible world heritage designation.
Chernihiv has a historic center whose roots go back to the ninth century. Meanwhile, Kharkiv is home to the Derzhprom construction, one of the first Soviet concrete skyscrapers, notes Catherine Hickley for the Art Newspaper. The 14-story construction is located at the top of the city. the vast Freedom Square, which hit last week with a missile that destroyed an opera house, a concert corridor and government offices. According to BBC News, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cited the attack as an example of Russia’s “terror opposed to Ukraine,” adding: “There were no army targets in the square, nor in the residential spaces of Kharkiv that are under rocket fire. “
In the past 12 days, the threat posed by Ukraine’s cultural sites has become apparent. In early March, a Russian attack hit the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center, where the Nazis killed more than 33,000 Jews in two days of World War II. The monument suffered no critical damage, according to Forward, but the attack prompted calls for the historic site to be protected.
Ukrainian museums, and the valuable works of art they house, are also threatened with destruction and looting. The Ivankiv Museum, located about 80 km north of Kiev, was set on fire by Russian forces, resulting in the loss of several paintings at the hands of respected folk artist Maria Prymachenko. A local man ran to the building and rescued around 10 of Prymashenko’s 25 works stored there, Blanca Schofield reports for the London Times.
“The museum is the first Ivankiv construction that the Russians destroyed,” the artist’s great-granddaughter, Anastasiia Prymachenko, told The Times. “I think it’s because they need to destroy our Ukrainian culture: the museum is the only thing we have there, with many artifacts appearing in Ukrainian culture and Ivankiv. “
Amid violence and chaos, civilians and experts have striven to safeguard beloved cultural objects. Some museum workers rushed to dismantle the exhibits before heading to the front lines of the conflict. In Vliv, where locals are preparing for an invasion imaginable, locals helped wrap centuries-old statues in plastic and moss.
International organizations have also submitted their assistance. The Smithsonian’s Cultural Rescue Initiative, which works with cultural heritage threatened by disasters, has been in contact with contacts in Ukraine who have been trained in “first aid” for cultural heritage, Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch said in a press release.
According to a separate UNESCO report, the foreign company is taking similar steps and added marking “key ancient monuments and sites in Ukraine with the unique emblem of the 1954 Hague Convention, a sign identified worldwide for cultural heritage coverage on the occasion. “of the armed conflict. “” UNESCO will also monitor damage to cultural sites through satellite imagery. Staff are applying to coordinate a meeting with museum administrators in Ukraine, with the goal of helping them maintain their collections.
“We will have to safeguard this cultural heritage,” said UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay, “as a testament to the afterlife but also as a vector of peace for the future, which the external network has a duty to protect and maintain forever. “future generations”.