UNESCO mission arrives in Odesa to assess condition of historic centre after shelling
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- Mariia Khamitsevych
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19:24, 13 February, 2025
UNESCO mission arrives in Odesa, photo: omr.gov.uaA joint mission of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and ICOMOS has arrived in Odesa for an official visit. Its purpose is to assess the state of the historic centre of the city, which is on the World Heritage List, and to check the implementation of the recommendations made during its inscription.
This mission was supposed to take place in 2023, but was postponed due to the intensification of Russian attacks, according to the official Odesa website.
«Our mission is to collect information and hold consultations to agree on the next steps to create a framework for solutions and recommendations for the preservation of the attributes of the World Heritage Site from all types of threats,» said Berta de Sancristobal, Head of Europe and North America at the UNESCO World Heritage Centre.
The mission will work in Odesa for several days, holding a series of meetings and field trips. During the full-scale war, Russians have carried out about 10 attacks on the territory of the historic centre and the buffer zone. In total, about 170 cultural heritage sites have been damaged in Odesa.
The UNESCO mission arrived in Odesa, photo: omr.gov.ua
The UNESCO mission arrived in Odesa, photo: omr.gov.uaThe UNESCO team is already working on documenting the damage after the rocket attack on the historic centre of Odesa on 31 January 2025. At least two buildings, which are part of the World Heritage Site, were damaged.