19 Ukrainian sites added to UNESCO's Intl List of Cultural Property

Nineteen Ukrainian sites have been added to the International List of Cultural Property under Enhanced Protection by UNESCO, bringing the total number of Ukrainian sites on the list to 46, Deputy Prime Minister for Humanitarian Policy and Minister of Culture of Ukraine Tetiana Berezhna has said.

"The UNESCO Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict has just supported Ukraine's initiative and adopted a corresponding decision. This is an important international victory and recognition of how responsibly Ukraine implements the norms of international humanitarian law even during a full-scale war," Berezhna said on Facebook on Thursday.

According to her, the total number of Ukrainian sites on the list has increased to 46. "This makes Ukraine one of the countries with the largest list of cultural heritage under the highest international legal protection in the field of humanitarian law," the minister said.

Berezhna said enhanced protection is the highest level of international legal protection provided for by the Second Protocol to the 1954 Hague Convention. Sites that receive this status must meet three key requirements: have exceptional significance for humanity; be protected at the national level; and not be used for military purposes.

"In the face of full-scale Russian aggression, Ukraine has become the first state in the world to apply the mechanism of enhanced protection during war on a large scale, creating a new precedent in international practice," the minister said.

According to her, also at the initiative of Ukraine, a discussion began last year on international legal responsibility for violations of the immunity of objects under enhanced protection. The results of the study conducted by a group of international experts were presented during the 20th Meeting of the Second Protocol Committee.

The following objects were added to the List under enhanced protection: Akkerman Fortress, Bilhorod-Dnistrovsky, Odesa region; Assumption Cathedral, Kharkiv; Borys and Hlib Cathedral, Chernihiv; Kharkiv Academic Ukrainian Taras Shevchenko Drama Theater, Kharkiv; Kirkham Building (St. Paul's Church), Odesa; House of estate manager of Leopold Koenig, Trostianets, Sumy region; Movchansky Monastery, Putyvl, Sumy region; Pokrovsk Church, Kharkiv; Prymorsky Stairs, Odesa; Resurrection Church, Sumy; St. Cyril's Church, Kyiv; Transfiguration Cathedral, Sumy; Trinity Cathedral, Sumy; Iskorosten Hillfort, Korosten village, Zhytomyr region; Baida Island Archaeological Complex, Zaporizhzhia; Odesa Museum of Western and Eastern Art, Odesa; Odesa National Art Museum, Odesa; Odesa National Scientific Library, Odesa; Precarpathian Art Museum, Ivano-Frankivsk.

"Violation of the 'immunity' of such objects is a serious international crime and entails double responsibility - both for the state and for individuals," Berezhna said.

Berezhna expressed gratitude to UNESCO for supporting Ukraine, Deputy Minister of Culture Anastasia Bondar, as well as to Lina Doroshenko and the entire team for their work. "I also thank my colleagues from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine / MFA of Ukraine for their coordinated work," she added.