UNESCO condemns Russia’s ‘brutal attacks’ on world heritage sites

UNESCO on Sunday condemned “strongly” the “brutal attacks carried out by Russian forces” that hit several sites in central Odessa in southern Ukraine, World Heritage Sites, including the 200-year-old Transfiguration Cathedral.

“This horrific destruction marks a new escalation of violence against the cultural heritage of Ukraine,” said Audrey Azoulay, director general of the United Nations Agency for Culture, Education and Science.

“I call on the Russian Federation to take concrete measures to fulfill its obligations under international law” related to the preservation of heritage, he added.

Earlier, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, considered that the attack of Russian troops in Odessa this morning, in which at least two people were killed and 22 were injured, was “another war crime” by the Kremlin.

“The continued terror of Russian missiles against Odessa, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is yet another war crime by the Kremlin, which also destroyed an Orthodox cathedral, considered a World Heritage Site,” Josep Borrell said in a post on his official Twitter account.

The head of European diplomacy stressed that Russia had already damaged hundreds of cultural sites in an attempt to “destroy Ukraine.”

Tonight, Russia launched a strike on Odessa, firing 19 missiles, hitting civilian infrastructure, houses and cars, and damaging the Transfiguration Cathedral in Odessa. There are at least two dead and 22 injured, according to the balance of power.

The port city came under massive attack after Russia abandoned the Black Sea deal on Monday, which guaranteed safe shipping for Ukraine to transport its grain to the rest of the world, and after Kiev attacked the Crimean Bridge for the second time.