The Committee notes that attacks on sites under international protection constitute a deliberate and demonstrative destruction of humanity’s cultural heritage. This is a direct challenge to the international legal order and the principles upon which UNESCO’s work is founded.
The Committee emphasises in particular that this act of aggression is not an isolated incident. russia is systematically targeting Ukraine’s cultural heritage sites, including those listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Such actions bear the hallmarks of a deliberate policy aimed at destroying cultural identity and historical memory, which constitutes a gross violation of international obligations regarding the protection of cultural heritage. The recurrence of such attacks demonstrates the deliberate nature of these violations and calls not only for condemnation, but also for the immediate implementation of effective international response mechanisms.
It is particularly unacceptable that russia, whilst remaining a member of UNESCO, systematically violates its fundamental principles. A country that is obliged to ensure the preservation of cultural heritage is, instead, the main culprit behind its destruction.
The Committee emphasises that such behaviour is not merely incompatible with the status of a UNESCO Member State — it discredits the Organisation itself.
In this context, the Committee takes a firm stance: russia’s continued membership of UNESCO is unacceptable and runs counter to the Organisation’s fundamental principles.
To ignore this fact would amount to tacit approval of the destruction of the world’s cultural heritage.
We call for immediate and decisive action:
- to initiate procedures to suspend its membership rights;
- to consider its expulsion from the Organisation;
- to ensure that international legal liability for the deliberate destruction of cultural heritage is inevitable.