The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) decided on Thursday to grant temporary enhanced protection to twenty cultural sites in Ukraine, and train members of the Ukrainian security forces and judicial officials to protect heritage. The decision came during an extraordinary session of the Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict at the request of Kyiv to protect the cultural heritage in Ukraine, UNESCO said in a press release.

The Committee explained that the extraordinary meeting came after the repeated destruction of cultural property in Ukraine.

The Committee added that at this meeting, the Second Protocol Committee of the 1954 Hague Convention adopted a statement denouncing "the severe damage caused by Russian missile strikes on historical buildings of cultural importance located in Lviv, Odesa and Chernihiv." The Committee indicated that the Committee temporarily included 20 cultural properties from Ukraine in the international list of cultural sites subject to enhanced protection, especially by allowing the competent bodies in the 87 state parties to the Second Protocol 1999.

The Committee stressed that these twenty cultures have the highest immunity against military attacks. As well as against threats to make them a military target. Warning that failure to adhere to these provisions would severely violate the 1954 Hague Convention and its Second Protocol. The Committee also decided to provide financial support to UNESCO to train Ukrainian security forces and judicial personnel to improve their skills in the field of cultural heritage protection.

Specifically, since February 24 of last year, UNESCO has recorded damage to 287 cultural sites in Ukraine, including within the boundaries of World Heritage sites.

Source: Kuwait News Agency