Ukraine asks to strengthen sanctions against Russia after hostile shelling of Odesa - MoC

This was stated by the Minister of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine Mykola Tochytskyi in a commentary to the media, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

“Yesterday the Russian aggressor once again inflicted a huge damage to the historic city of Odesa. As a result of the ballistic attack, a number of cultural heritage sites were damaged. The Museum of Western and Oriental Art, the Bristol Hotel building, which was built by Italian architects in the 19th century, and the Philharmonic, which is under special UNESCO protection, were damaged. The local lore and history museums were also damaged,” noted Mykola Tochytskyi.

According to him, Ukraine is asking for tougher sanctions against those who harm the national cultural heritage. According to the agreement, the parties to the conflict must refrain from harming sites on the UNESCO list.

“We have appealed to our colleagues from UNESCO to take measures, i.e., enhanced sanctions, in accordance with the Convention. We are absolutely confident that our colleagues will be unanimous in the fact that additional sanctions will be imposed on anyone who harms our cultural heritage,” Tochytskyi added.

According to him, since yesterday, representatives of the Department of Culture of the Odesa Regional State Administration and experts have been working at the scene in Odesa to assess the damage caused by the enemy shelling.

“As of today, 1,333 cultural heritage sites of various levels, from local to national, have been damaged. Some of them are irretrievably lost,” the minister said.

He noted that 137 cultural heritage sites in Odesa region were damaged due to military aggression.

As Ukrinform reported, yesterday Russian troops struck Odesa with three ballistic missiles.