Today, at the initiative of Odesa City Council deputies, work was carried out to remove the sandbags from the monument to the Duke de Richelieu, which had protected the sculpture from shrapnel and the blast wave since the first days of the full-scale war, UNN reports, citing Odesa City Council.
Details
According to the city council, municipal services are completing the removal of sand and debris from the area around the monument.
As noted by Fedir Stoianov, head of the Department for UNESCO Affairs and Cultural Heritage Protection, the city had planned to partially dismantle the protective layer in order to gain access to the sculpture and assess its condition with the involvement of specialized experts.
"The Duke de Richelieu is one of the symbols of our city. It is important for us to preserve him for future generations. After the monument had spent several years under a protective structure, a natural question arose regarding the condition of the metal sculpture itself," — Fedir Stoianov said.
After the monument was uncovered, an initial visual inspection showed that the sculpture was in satisfactory condition. No signs of hazardous processes, deformations, or other damage that could threaten the technical condition of the sculpture or pedestal have been detected so far.
In the coming days, the monument will be examined by specialists from the construction academy and experts in cultural heritage protection. Based on the results of the examination, further measures to protect it will be determined.
In particular, the restoration of the protective structure and its possible modernization will be considered. Several options have been preliminarily developed, since it will be necessary to ensure reliable protection of the monument from possible enemy attacks in the future.
The final decision on the further protection of the Duke de Richelieu will be made after the examination by specialists.