![]() Moscow pointed to “the glorious historical past of Odesa as part of the Russian state” and insisted that “the only threat” Odesa faced was from “the nationalist regime in Ukraine” which had taken down a number of monuments in the city.įollowing a poll of residents, city authorities last year removed a monument to the Russian Empress Catherine the Great, seen as the city’s founder, as part of ‘ de-Russification‘ efforts. “It was prepared hastily, without respecting the current high standards of UNESCO,” the foreign ministry said, stressing that just six countries voted in favour. In Moscow, Russia’s foreign ministry accused a group of Western countries of pushing through what it called a “politically motivated” decision in violation of standard procedures. UNESCO said that it had already helped with repairs to the building, as well as to the Odesa Museum of Modern Art, which has also been damaged in the conflict. ![]() In July 2022, parts of the large glass roof and windows of the Museum of Fine Arts, inaugurated in 1899, were destroyed. Since the Russian invasion, Ukrainians have rushed to protect the city’s monuments and buildings with sandbags and barricades. The city’s most famous historic sites include its Opera House, which became a symbol of resilience when it reopened in June 2022, and the giant stairway to the harbour, immortalised in Sergei Eisenstein’s 1925 silent film Battleship Potemkin.Īlthough Odesa suffered significant damage in World War II, its famed central grid square of low-rise, 19th-century buildings survived mostly intact. ![]() Its status as a trading hub brought significant wealth and made it one of the most cosmopolitan cities in Eastern Europe. Odesa, once one of Europe’s most cosmopolitan cities, came under attack during World War II but its historic centre of 19th century buildings survived largely intact “I’m grateful to partners who help protect our pearl from the Russian invaders’ attacks.” ‘Glorious historical past’įounded in the final years of the 18th century near the site of a captured Ottoman fortress, Odesa’s location on the shores of the Black Sea turned it into one of the most important ports in the Russian empire. “Today Odesa got UNESCO protection,” Zelenskyy wrote on Twitter. The status is aimed at helping protect Odesa’s cultural heritage, and enabling access to financial and technical international aid. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who requested the listing in October, welcomed the designation. “While the war continues, this inscription embodies our collective determination to ensure that this city, which has always surmounted global upheavals, is preserved from further destruction,” UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said after the decision. Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February last year and has bombed Odesa several times, tried to delay the vote repeatedly. The 21 member states of UNESCO’s world heritage committee approved the decision with six votes in favour, one against and 14 abstentions. The United Nations’ cultural agency has decided to add the historic centre of Ukraine’s Black Sea port city of Odesa to its list of World Heritage sites to recognise “the outstanding universal value of the site and the duty of all humanity to protect it” as the city faces the threat of destruction.
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