Ombudsman appeals to UNESCO over damage to seven cultural heritage sites in Odesa
Kyiv • UNN
Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, appealed to UNESCO after a massive missile attack on Odesa, which damaged seven cultural heritage sites in the city's historic center. Among the damaged sites are four architectural monuments of national significance, including the Vorontsov Palace and the Londonska Hotel.
Dmytro Lubinets, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, announced an appeal to UNESCO due to the massive missile attack on Odesa, which destroyed and damaged at least seven cultural heritage sites in the city's historic center. He reported this on his Telegram channel, writes UNN.
Yesterday, as a result of a massive missile attack by the Russian Federation on Odesa, seven cultural heritage sites located in the city's historic center, which is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, were damaged and destroyed. In this regard, I sent an official letter to UNESCO demanding a proper assessment of the shelling and measures to protect Ukrainian cultural heritage.
According to Lubinets, among the damaged are four architectural monuments of national importance:
• Vorontsov Palace (early 19th century),
• Palace on Primorsky Boulevard, 9,
• Rodokonaki House ("Hotel de Versal"),
• "London" Hotel.
In addition, the building of the Burgher Administration, the Fruit Passage, and the building of the Odesa-Port station suffered serious damage.
These monuments are part of not only Ukrainian but also world cultural heritage. Their deliberate destruction is an attempt to erase historical memory, national identity, and cultural distinctiveness of the Ukrainian people. This is another war crime that Russia is committing on the territory of Ukraine.
In total, according to him, as a result of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, 1528 cultural heritage sites and 2359 cultural infrastructure objects have already been destroyed or damaged.
Lubinets called on the international community to apply effective legal and institutional mechanisms to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Impunity for the aggressor is a direct path to new crimes and even greater destruction.