2024-02-13 18:00:03
PARIS (AP) — Ukraine will need regarding $9 billion over the next decade to rebuild its cultural sites and tourism sector following the Russian invasion and war, the United Nations cultural agency said Tuesday.
According to UNESCO, the country’s combined culture and tourism sector has lost $19 billion in revenue during the war approaching its second year. The fighting has damaged 341 cultural sites in kyiv, the capital; Lviv in the west, Odessa in the south and other cities.
The total cost of destroying these sites and thousands of “cultural assets” across the country amounts to almost $3.5 billion, according to the agency.
“Odessa Cathedral is an example of a severely damaged site,” said Chiara Dezzi Bardeschi, director of the UNESCO office in Ukraine. “It is a symbol of the entire community… with deep spiritual and historical meaning.”
In July 2023, UNESCO strongly condemned a “brazen attack by Russian forces” on historic buildings in central Odessa, an area designated a World Heritage Site in Danger. The attack caused at least two deaths and damaged the Transfiguration Cathedral, among other buildings.
The cathedral founded in the 18th century is the main Orthodox church in Odessa. The original structure was destroyed in 1936 during the Soviet era and rebuilt between 1999 and 2003.
UNESCO said the intentional destruction of religious buildings and artifacts, among other cultural heritage sites, can be considered a war crime. The International Criminal Court first brought war crimes charges for intentional attacks on historic religious buildings and monuments in Mali in 2015.
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