UNESCO Grants Enhanced Protection Status to 19 More Ukrainian Heritage Sites
UNESCO has added 19 additional Ukrainian cultural landmarks to its International List of Cultural Property under Enhanced Protection.
The Gaze reports this, referring to a statement made by Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture.
The decision was adopted on 4 December by UNESCO’s Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict.
The new entries span historic fortresses, churches, museums, and landmark architectural sites across the country. Among them are Odesa’s iconic Potemkin Stairs, the Akkerman Fortress in Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, Kyiv’s medieval Kyrylivska Church, the archaeological complex “Baida Island” in Zaporizhzhia, and several major cultural institutions in Odesa, Kharkiv, Sumy, and Ivano-Frankivsk.
With these additions, the number of Ukrainian sites under enhanced protection now stands at 46 – one of the highest totals among member states, according to Deputy Prime Minister and Culture Minister Tetiana Berezhna.
She said the expanded list demonstrates Ukraine’s commitment to safeguarding cultural heritage despite the unprecedented risks posed by Russia’s full-scale war.
Ukraine is currently the first country to apply the enhanced protection mechanism on such a scale during an active armed conflict, setting a new precedent in the implementation of international humanitarian law.
Deputy Minister for Digital Development Anastasiia Bondar, who participated in the UNESCO meeting, emphasized Ukraine’s systematic efforts to uphold the 1954 Hague Convention and its protocols.
These efforts include criminal liability for violations of cultural property immunity, improved coordination between ministries and local authorities, and the development of risk-management systems to protect heritage and document war-related destruction. She noted that Ukraine was also the first state to conduct an ad hoc monitoring mission during wartime.
Lina Doroshenko, Ukraine’s national coordinator for implementation of the Hague Convention, called the expansion of the list a strategic step in strengthening cultural security. Granting this status while hostilities continue, she said, illustrates Ukraine’s ability to protect heritage even under the most severe threats, and contributes to shaping global standards for cultural safeguarding in the 21st century.
Before this latest decision, 27 Ukrainian heritage sites had been granted enhanced protection status.
As The Gaze previously informed, Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture has reported that 1,612 cultural heritage monuments and 2,427 cultural infrastructure facilities have been damaged or destroyed since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
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