War also attacks the culture of a country.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has caused $3.5 billion in destruction to the country's heritage and cultural sector and generated $19 billion in lost revenues in entertainment, art and tourism, it has estimated. 'Unesco Tuesday.
Last April, the UN Organization for Education, Science and Culture, headquartered in Paris, estimated the damage at nearly $2.6 billion, and some $14.6 billion in total. losses in tourism, art and entertainment.
To achieve these amounts, UNESCO has identified some 5,000 sites destroyed since the Russian invasion of February 2022, including 341 cultural sites damaged - compared to 248 in April 2023. Two sites belonging to UNESCO world heritage, the center history of Lviv (West) and that of Odessa (South) were particularly affected by Russian bombings.
The example of Odessa Cathedral
Chiara Dezzi Bardeschi, UNESCO representative in Ukraine, notably cited the Transfiguration Cathedral in Odessa, a “symbol for the entire community”, which was heavily damaged by a Russian strike last July.
Founded more than 200 years ago and destroyed by the Soviets in 1936, the Transfiguration Cathedral was rebuilt in the early 2000s thanks to donations.
It was consecrated in 2010 by the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, Kirill.
The cathedral has “religious and spiritual value for the city and for the community” but is no longer usable by the community, regretted Chiara Dezzi Bardeschi.
Seven Ukrainian cultural sites and one natural site are part of the UNESCO World Heritage list, including the historic center of Odessa (South-West), relatively untouched by a year of conflict, which joined it this year.
Sixteen other sites, including the city center of Chernihiv, damaged during the first months of the war, appear in a UNESCO “indicative” list.
kyiv must ultimately present their candidacy so that they can be included in the UN World Heritage List.