KYIV. Dec 19 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The UNESCO Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict has approved the decision to provisionally include five more cultural heritage sites of Ukraine in the international List of Cultural Property under Enhanced Protection.
According to the press service of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy, tis concerns cultural heritage monuments located in Odesa, Chernihiv, Lviv and Zakarpattia regions.
In particular, wooden churches of the Carpathian region: St. Michael Church (Uzhok, Zakarpattia region) and wooden St. George’s Church (Drohobych, Lviv region); the Odesa National Academic Opera and Ballet Theater; the Odesa Regional Philharmonic Hall named after David Oistrakh; Transfiguration Cathedral of the city of Chernihiv.
“Currently, 25 cultural heritage sites of Ukraine now benefit from the highest level of immunity from military attacks as well as threats of making it a military target. These inscriptions increase their immunity in the course of ongoing war, potentially enabling competent bodies of all 88 States Parties to the 1999 Second Protocol to prosecute or extradite alleged offenders,” the ministry said.