Russia’s war in Ukraine has caused $3.5 billion in damage to the country’s heritage and cultural sector, as well as $19 billion in lost entertainment, arts and tourism, UNESCO estimated on Tuesday.

In April, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, based in Paris, estimated losses at nearly $2.6 billion, with losses from tourism, arts and entertainment at about $14.6 billion.

To arrive at these figures, UNESCO identified around 5,000 sites destroyed since the Russian invasion in February 2022, including 341 damaged cultural sites – up from 248 in April 2023. In particular, two UNESCO World Heritage sites, the historic center of Lviv (in the west of the country) and Odesa (in the south), suffered from Russian bombings.

Chiara Dezzi Bardeschi, the representative of UNESCO in Ukraine, in particular mentioned the Transfiguration Cathedral in Odesa, which is a “symbol for the whole community”, which was badly damaged by the Russian attack last July. Founded more than 200 years ago and destroyed by the Soviet authorities in 1936, the cathedral was rebuilt in the early 2000s thanks to donations. It was consecrated in 2010 by Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church. The cathedral has “religious and spiritual value for the city and the community,” but it is no longer used by the community, Chiara Dezzi Bardeschi said.

Seven cultural sites and one natural site in Ukraine are on the UNESCO World Heritage List, including the historic center of Odesa, which was relatively untouched during the year of conflict and which joined the list this year. Another 16 objects, including the center of Chernihiv, affected in the first months of the war, are included in the “indicative” list of UNESCO. In the end, Kyiv will have to apply for inclusion of these objects in the World Heritage List.

____

• Follow the latest events of the war in Ukraine LIVETEXT on HotNews.ro