UNESCO: Ukraine will need $9 billion to restore cultural monuments and tourism after the aggression of the Russian Federation

Ukraine will need nearly $9 billion over the next decade to rebuild its cultural sites and restore tourism after a full-scale Russian invasion.

This was announced by UNESCO, the Associated Press reports.

According to UNESCO estimates, Ukraineʼs cultural and tourism sectors lost more than $19 billion in revenue during the full-scale war. Total damages from the destruction of cultural objects and thousands of other cultural values in the entire country reach almost $3.5 billion.

UNESCO said that the deliberate destruction of cultural heritage objects, including religious buildings and artifacts, can be considered a war crime. The International Criminal Court first brought charges of war crimes involving targeted attacks on historic religious monuments and buildings in a case involving Mali in 2015.

On February 8, 2024, the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine wrote that 902 monuments of cultural heritage were damaged in Ukraine due to Russian aggression. Monuments were damaged or destroyed in 17 regions, but most of all in Kharkiv (234), Odesa (119) and Donetsk (117) regions.

According to UNESCO data from February 7, 2024, there are 341 damaged cultural monuments in Ukraine.

• In January 2023, the historic center of Odesa was added to the List of World Heritage under threat. And in September 2023, the St. Sophia Cathedral and adjacent monastic buildings, the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, as well as the "Ensemble of the Historical Center of the City of Lviv" were added to the UNESCO List of Heritage under threat. All because of Russiaʼs military aggression.