UNESCO sends mission to Odesa to assess damage to cultural sites as result of Russian missile attacks

In the coming days, representatives of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) will visit Odesa to conduct a preliminary assessment of damage to cultural heritage sites as a result of Russian missile attacks.

The Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine announced this on Monday, July 24.

"In the next few days, a UNESCO mission will arrive in Odesa, which will conduct a preliminary assessment of damage to cultural heritage sites," the message reads.

The Ministry recalled that the day before, UNESCO had stated that the deliberate striking of cultural objects can be equated to war crimes.

At the same time, the aggressor country of Russia continues to remain a member of UNESCO, despite its repeated attacks on cultural heritage sites on the territory of Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.

The Ministry of Culture urged UNESCO to take more active measures to preserve and restore the cultural heritage of Ukraine.

In addition, they are expecting from the organization to exclude Russia from among the participating countries.

We will remind you that during the last week, the aggressor country of Russia attacked the territory of the Odesa Region with missiles and drones almost every day. Odesa itself suffered during several such attacks.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on Sunday, July 23, the Odesa Regional Military Administration published a list of objects protected by UNESCO that were damaged by a Russian missile attack.

We also reported that UNESCO condemned the Russian attack on the historic center of Odesa on the night of last Thursday, July 20.

We previously wrote that in January 2023, UNESCO added the historic center of Odesa to the list of endangered world heritage.