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UNESCO Experts to Assess Cultural Damage in Lviv After Russian Drone Attack, Ukrainian MFA Confirms
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![Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko]( "Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko")
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha confirmed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has reached an agreement with UNESCO experts, who will be arriving in Lviv to document the damage caused by the Russian drone strike on March 24.
Minister Sybiha made the statement during a broadcast on the national telethon.
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According to him the assessment will focus on the cultural heritage sites impacted by the attack.
“Russia has not only targeted buildings in the center of Lviv. This is an attack on UNESCO’s world heritage. An attack directly on UNESCO as an organization. An attack on all those worldwide who care about cultural heritage. We demand strong reactions,” stated Andrii Sybiha.
In light of this, the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory (UINP) has urged the international community to sign an open letter condemning Russia's attacks on cultural heritage sites in Ukraine, particularly those under UNESCO protection.
The statement was issued following the massive drone attack on March 24, which targeted the central part of Lviv, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The strike caused significant damage to the 17th-century Bernardine Monastery complex.
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According to the UINP, since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, over 1,600 cultural heritage sites in Ukraine have been damaged or destroyed.
“Constant attacks on Ukraine’s cultural heritage under UNESCO protection are a deliberate policy of the Kremlin aimed at erasing Ukrainian national memory and cultural identity,” the UINP stated.
“We call on the international community to take consolidated action to stop the unprovoked war against Ukraine: the killing and abduction of children, civilians, and military personnel, the destruction of European cultural heritage by Russia in Ukraine, and to put an end to the systematic disregard for international law.”
This is not the first time Russia has been implicated in attacks on Ukrainian civilians and cultural landmarks. On February 16, Ukraine’s Office of the Prosecutor General named senior commanders of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet as suspects in the missile strike on Lviv and nearby UNESCO buffer zone sites on July 6, 2023.
“Under the procedural guidance of prosecutors from the Office of the Prosecutor General, the commander and chief of staff of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Navy—an admiral and a vice admiral—have been notified of suspicion, as the investigation established that they organized and planned the attack,” according to a statement.
The investigation revealed that the strike involved 3M-14 Kalibr sea-launched cruise missiles fired from submarines and surface ships of the Black Sea Fleet, which were on combat duty in the Black Sea at the time. One missile struck a residential neighborhood, killing nine civilians and causing extensive damage to buildings, vehicles, and other civilian infrastructure.
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-111f0e5095e02c02446ffed57bfb0ab1.jpeg "Photo of Roman Kohanets")
