Russia could export up to half a billion Ukrainian objects of cultural heritage

Russia probably exported more than half a billion Ukrainian objects of cultural heritage. This was stated by Daryna Pidgorna, a lawyer at the Regional Center for Human Rights.

According to her, it is currently impossible to determine exactly how many objects of historical and cultural heritage the Russians have destroyed. Preliminary estimates indicate about 500 destroyed immovable heritage sites and more than 100 illegal excavations.

“We find ourselves in a situation where almost all Ukrainian monuments have been destroyed. Then we talk about another aspect of the crime — physical destruction. It is also a war crime, a crime against humanity. And there should be a punishment for this,” Pidgorna said.

In 2022, information was published on the website of the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences that during one expedition, which lasted 2 months, more than 1 million artifacts were found on the territory of Chersonesus, 200 thousand of which were transported “for study and restoration” to the territory of Russia.

Pidgorna added that UNESCO has an official page dedicated to Ukraine and the destruction of its cultural heritage, which lists more than 300 cultural heritage sites that have been destroyed and visited by a UNESCO mission for assessment. “According to the data of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, there are more than one and a half thousand such objects. That is, the data do not match, are limited and do not reflect the full picture of what is happening in Ukraine. This is the main problem of UNESCO,” the lawyer emphasized.

According to her, the national legislation on the protection of cultural heritage needs radical reform, in particular, the relevant articles of the Criminal Code are lacking.

“There is a great need to create a conversation within society about the need to protect cultural heritage, our identity and history. It is necessary to document any action that the Russians commit against our cultural heritage. Track what’s happening, why it’s happening, who’s doing it, etc. All of this information must go to our law enforcement agencies, who have a mandate to investigate and prosecute. Ukraine must constantly emphasize to the international community that the culture that the Russians are destroying is not only Ukrainian. It is a part of world culture and history. Ukraine should insist that the protection of cultural heritage is one of the priorities of the state’s national security. It should take this into account in the security strategy,” concluded Daryna Pidgorna.