Kyiv's 'Heritage card'! UNESCO assures Ukraine to include Odessa in World Heritage

Kyiv, Sept 1: Amid the ongoing war with Russia, Ukraine has requested the UN's cultural watchdog to add the historic port of Odessa to its world heritage list of protected sites. The port was struck by missiles just hours after Russia decided to allow a shipment of Ukrainian grain exports. As many as six explosions were heard in Odessa.

 

 

 

 

"On July 24, 2022, part of the glass canopy and windows of the Museum of Fine Arts, inaugurated in 1899, were destroyed" by the raids, the UN's cultural agency UNESCO said after its Director-General Audrey Azoulay met Ukraine's Culture Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko in Paris. Moreover, the UNESCO experts on ground will be providing technical assistance so that Odessa could be urgently added to both the World Heritage list and the list of heritage sites in danger.

 

Earlier in July, a deal was reached between Ukraine and Russia where Russia promised to unblock ports on the Black Sea to allow safe passage of grain and oilseeds, some of Ukraine's most important exports. Russia has so far been blocking maritime access to those ports, meaning that millions of tons of Ukrainian grain have not been exported to the many countries that rely on it. Meanwhile, a vessel carrying wheat from Ukraine to the drought-stricken Horn of Africa has docked, the United Nations said, the first to make the journey since the Russian invasion six months ago.

 

 

  

 

 

As per the reports of Reuters, UNESCO said it also wants to add Odessa on the List of World Heritage in Danger, as well as World Heritage sites Kyiv and Lviv, which are also under threat. UNESCO will fund repairs to Odessa’s Museum of Fine Arts, after part of the large glass roof and windows of the museum were destroyed due to Russia Artillery firing, as well as to the Odessa Museum of Modern Art since the beginning of the war and finance the hiring of additional staff dedicated to the protection of collections. It will also help with the digitization of artworks and will provide protective equipment.

 

According to the UNESCO, Odessa is the only city in Ukraine that has entirely preserved the urban structure of a multinational southern port town typical for the late 18th - 19th centuries. The port function of the town played a dominant role in determining urban system of Odessa, and plans for development of the port town were achieved in extremely short terms - just one hundred years.