Zelensky asks UNESCO to fast-track Odesa heritage status amid war
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has appealed to UNESCO to include Odesa's historic center on the World Heritage List, aiming to safeguard Ukrainian cultural heritage from ongoing Russian assaults. During a video address at UNESCO's executive board meeting in Paris, he emphasized the urgency of the situation, citing daily threats from Russian strikes, and called for Russia's removal from UNESCO bodies, despite the legal challenges this poses. Odesa, a Black Sea port city with a pre-war population of one million, has been on UNESCO's tentative list since 2009. UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay remarked that the request demonstrates confidence in the organization's protective capabilities. Seven Ukrainian sites have already been designated as World Heritage. The 45th annual session of the World Heritage Committee has been postponed indefinitely.
Key facts
- Volodymyr Zelensky submitted a formal request for Odesa's historic center to become a UNESCO World Heritage site.
- The request was presented via a pre-recorded video at UNESCO's executive board meeting in Paris.
- Zelensky argued the status is necessary to protect Ukrainian cultural heritage from Russian attacks.
- He called for Russia's exclusion from UNESCO, but this is not legally possible as Russia is a UN member state.
- Odesa has been on UNESCO's tentative list since 2009.
- UNESCO has already provided funding for war damage repairs at Odesa's Art Museum and digitization of materials.
- UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay described Odesa as a 'melting pot of exchanges and migrations'.
- The 45th World Heritage Committee session in Kazan, Russia, has been postponed indefinitely.
Entities
Artists
- Sergei Eisenstein
Institutions
- UNESCO
- World Heritage Committee
- United Nations
- Odesa Art Museum
- Opera House
Locations
- Odesa
- Ukraine
- Paris
- France
- Black Sea
- Kazan
- Russia