“Russia’s war against Ukraine is causing enormous human suffering and the country’s culture is a particular target. They are trying to erase the historical and cultural identity of Ukraine in order to destroy social cohesion and stability. That is why historical buildings, monuments and archaeological objects are attacked, libraries and archives are destroyed, artistic treasures are looted and moved to unknown places – the damage and loss of Ukrainian and European cultural heritage is already immeasurable. In September 2023, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee included two Ukrainian world heritage sites – Hagia Sophia and the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra in Kyiv, as well as the old center of Lviv – on the List of World Heritage in Danger. The war in Ukraine puts both World Heritage sites at risk, and their protection is complicated by hostilities. Both cities are repeatedly subjected to airstrikes by Russia. The old city of Odesa, which was recognized by UNESCO only in January 2023 and directly included in the List of World Heritage under threat, has also become the object of repeated airstrikes,” the organizers said.
Our organization talked about the UNESCO World Natural Heritage site “Primitive beech forests and ancient forests of the Carpathians and other regions of Europe” in Ukraine, and the risks it is currently experiencing. As a result of the latest expansion, currently the Ukrainian component of the UNESCO World Natural Heritage site “Primitive beech forests and ancient forests of the Carpathians and other regions of Europe” consists of 15 components with a total area of 28,985.97 hectares and an area of buffer zones of 43,035.85 hectares.
“UNESCO’s natural heritage needs the same careful attention for preservation as cultural heritage. Rockets and bombs cannot cause the same damage to natural heritage as to cultural heritage objects. However, the war led to the weakening of control and conservation measures of natural heritage areas and the emergence of illegal logging, poaching, and other activities that can lead to the destruction of unique natural values. These natural values are a part of our Motherland – what soldiers fight for at the front, and should have been preserved unconditionally”, – says the head of the board of the NGO “Danube-Carpathian Program, candidate of biological sciences Bohdan Prots.
The information field forms a sense of reality. Therefore, when the Ukrainian people stop talking about the crimes of the unprovoked war, which was unleashed by Russia against an independent state, the world community gets the false impression that the “conflict is fading”, at a time when each subsequent day of the war actually brings more deaths , suffering and destruction. That is why it is so important today not only to help the country survive with your actions, but also to talk about war crimes.
