PARIS — Almost 100 cultural and religious
sites in Ukraine have sustained damage since the start of the Russian invasion
on February 24, the United Nation’s cultural agency
UNESCO said on Wednesday.
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The estimate represents a near doubling
of the previous number UNESCO issued two weeks ago as concern grows over the
consequences of the assault for Ukrainian cultural heritage.
“The mark of 100 damaged or totally
destroyed sites will be reached on Thursday or Friday — this morning we are at
98 sites and monuments listed in eight regions of the country,” Lazare Eloundou
Assomo, director of world heritage at UNESCO, told AFP in an interview.
He said these included a range of sites,
including some from the early medieval era to others seen as landmarks of early
Soviet architecture.
“The number could rise still further,”
Eloundou Assomo warned, saying some areas were becoming accessible only now
while others were the scene of intensifying fighting.
“Some of these sites and monuments will
take time to rebuild and others probably cannot be rebuilt at all.”
He warned that any targeting of
buildings bearing the UNESCO-backed Blue Shield that signals cultural heritage
“is a violation of international law and could also be considered a war crime”.
UNESCO uses satellite images and witness
reports from the scene to verify information provided by the Ukrainian
authorities.
None of those confirmed damaged are on
the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites in Ukraine, such as the Saint-Sophia
Cathedral and monastic buildings of the
Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra in the capital.
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