The National Commission of Ukraine for UNESCO strongly condemns yet another Russian strike that has damaged the territory of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, a UNESCO World Heritage site, a cultural property under Enhanced Protection pursuant to the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its 1999 Second Protocol, a sacred site of Ukraine, and an invaluable part of the cultural heritage of humanity.

We also strongly condemn the attacks in Kyiv on the "Mystetskyi Arsenal" National Cultural and Art and Museum Complex, the National Palace of Arts Ukraina, and the Kyiv National I. K. Karpenko-Kary Theatre, Cinema and Television University, as well as the attacks on the Dnipro House of Organ and Chamber Music and the Kharkiv Art Museum.

We are outraged by the shelling of the National Dovzhenko Film Studios, which resulted in the destruction of Ukraine’s oldest costume collection.

Russia has once again demonstrated its complete disregard for human life, international law, and the values that unite the civilized world. By destroying Ukraine’s cultural heritage, the aggressor seeks to erase historical memory and inflicts damage upon the heritage of all humankind.

We call on the international community to stop tolerating these crimes, to increase political, economic, and legal pressure on the aggressor state, and to take decisive measures to bring Russia’s aggression to an end as soon as possible.

We demand a firm and unequivocal response from the leadership of the UNESCO Secretariat and the use of the mechanisms available to the UNESCO Executive Board, the Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, and the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.

We expect the prompt deployment of UNESCO experts to the targeted cultural heritage sites to document the damage and provide an objective and impartial assessment of the consequences of yet another cynical Russian crime.

Impunity breeds new crimes. The terrorist state must be held accountable.

Russia bears full responsibility for grave crimes against culture and should not have a voice  within UNESCO.

We call on all countries to work towards preventing Russia’s participation in UNESCO’s key governing bodies.