Ukraine, Russians attack Lviv: UNESCO protected area hit for first time

For the first time during the war in Ukraine, the Russians have launched an attack on a UNESCO-protected area. It happened tonight, when Russian missiles struck the western area of the city of Lviv , hitting some buildings in the “buffer zone,” which is the area that, according to the 1977 World Heritage Convention, must provide an additional level of protection to a property recognized as a World Heritage Site. This is an area, not mandatory for sites, surrounding a protected property: in the case of Lviv, the historic center of the Ukrainian city has been a World Heritage Site since 1998.

Unfortunately,Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture informs, there were casualties (five at the moment) during the attack, which targeted a complex of 17 historic residential blocks at the intersection of Stryska Street, one of the city’s main arteries, and Akademika Andriya Sakharova Street. The complex is listed in the State Register of Monuments of Ukraine, in accordance with Decree No. 14 of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine of January 18, 2021: it is in fact a complex designed at the behest of the city authorities (it was intended to house residences for teachers of the Lviv Polytechnic University) by architect Michal Ryba in 1925, in the functionalist style. The complex forms a trapezoidal neighborhood with a large enclosed courtyard and an entrance from the Stryska Street side. The buildings were built between 1927 and 1930 under the supervision of architects Vincent Ravskyi and Witold Minkevych.

“People, historical heritage and monuments are dying at the hands of the terrorist state,” said Ukrainian Culture Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko. “Tonight Russia struck the Historic Area-the buffer zone of the UNESCO World Heritage Site ’Lviv-Historic Center’ with Kalibr missiles. We officially and urgently inform UNESCO of this and, as always, await more action beyond mere concern. A state that does not respect the life, memory or history of an independent foreign country does not have the right to be a full member of international organizations.”

There was also no shortage of condemnation against Russia from UNESCO. “This attack, the first to occur in an area protected by the World Heritage Convention since the outbreak of war on Feb. 24, 2022,” reads a note from the organization, “constitutes a violation of that Convention as well as of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. The organization expresses its sincere condolences to the families of the five victims, according to an interim report, and its support for the injured and the people of Lviv. UNESCO recalls the obligations of States Parties under these widely ratified normative instruments. States Parties to the World Heritage Convention undertake not to take any deliberate measures that would harm the cultural and natural heritage located on the territory of other States Parties. These obligations apply to buffer zones. Buffer zones are an additional layer of protection for World Heritage sites whose boundaries are recognized and approved by the World Heritage Committee. Under the 1954 Hague Convention, States Parties also undertake to refrain from any act of hostility directed against cultural property. In March 2022, Audrey Azoulay, Director General of UNESCO, sent a letter to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation reminding him of these obligations and specifying the coordinates of World Heritage sites in Ukraine. Lviv is also a UNESCO creative city for literature and will soon host a UNESCO cultural center that will be a national hub for Ukrainian artists.”

Ukraine, Russians attack Lviv: UNESCO protected area hit for first time

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