International Day for Monuments and Sites

Since 2014, Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine has inflicted significant destruction and human casualties in Ukrainian towns and cities. Damage has been caused to many historic buildings and ensembles (residential and administrative buildings, places of worship, memorials, monuments, and others) as well as various cultural institutions (primarily museums, archives, and libraries).

Various international organizations have joined in documenting the crimes of the Russian military against Ukraine’s cultural heritage. For example, a list of damaged Ukrainian cultural heritage sites is also available on the UNESCO website. As of 12 April 2023 UNESCO confirmed damage to 251 sites since 24 February, including 108 religious sites, 21 museums, 90 buildings of historical and/or artistic interest, 19 monuments, 12 libraries, and 1 Archive.

Every year on 18 April, UNESCO celebrates the "International Day for Monuments and Sites," whose establishment was approved by the 22nd UNESCO General Conference (July,1983) on the initiative of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS). The aim of the International Day for Monuments and Sites is to encourage local communities and individuals throughout the world to consider the importance of cultural heritage to their lives, identities and communities, and to promote awareness of its diversity and vulnerability and the efforts required to protect and conserve it. The Day of Monuments of History and Culture was established in accordance with the Presidential Decree of August 23, 1999, on the initiative of scientists and employees of state bodies for the protection of the cultural heritage of Ukraine.

Photo: https://life.pravda.com.ua/culture/2022/04/16/2482...