The Menorah memorial is seen outside Kharkiv at the Drobitsky Yar Holocaust memorial, a site that witnessed a Nazi mass murder of Jews during the Second World War. UNESCO has included the memorial on its list of sites that have suffered continuous damage since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Sergey Bobok / AFP via Getty Images
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Sergey Bobok / AFP via Getty Images
The Menorah memorial is seen outside Kharkiv at the Drobitsky Yar Holocaust memorial, a site that witnessed a Nazi mass murder of Jews during the Second World War. UNESCO has included the memorial on its list of sites that have suffered continuous damage since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Sergey Bobok / AFP via Getty Images
Since Russia invaded Ukraine, UNESCO says it has verified damage to at least 53 cultural sites in the country.
The organization said it assesses damage reported in the media or Ukrainian officials and has a system in place to monitor major Ukrainian sites and monuments through satellite imagery.
A UNESCO spokesperson told NPR: “Our experts continue to verify each report and it is feared that other sites will be added to this list.
As of March 30, UNESCO said, the damaged sites were confirmed, located in several areas across Ukraine, including 29 religious sites, 16 historic buildings, four museums and four monuments.
When the war began, UNESCO took a number of urgent measures to best protect these cultural sites. It has held regular online meetings with World Heritage curators, museum directors, national monuments officials and local heritage protection associations in Ukraine to provide advice. expertise and practical advice. UNESCO says it has specialists available 24/7 to respond to emergencies.
“We assist them in identifying safe shelters to store movable items; evaluating and reinforcing fire-fighting procedures,” the spokesperson said.
The agency said it has also contacted Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to reiterate that heritage sites are obligated to be protected and to send him location data of heritage sites in Ukraine.
Both Russia and Ukraine have signed an act by The Hague Convention of 1954 protection of cultural property in armed conflict. It prohibits and condemns all acts of assault and damage to cultural heritage.
If cultural sites are marked with a blue shield – the symbol of the convention – it means they are under the protection of the convention. According to UNESCO, if attacks are carried out against these sites, the perpetrators will be held accountable for acts that constitute war crimes.
