Lubinets: Russia must be prosecuted for violating cultural rights of Ukrainians

"Russian occupiers continue to destroy cultural heritage and violate cultural rights which provide opportunities for the free spiritual development of an individual and the society," Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets posted on Telegram.

He noted that the invaders dismantled the monument to artist Arkhyp Kuindzhi in the temporarily captured Mariupol. A year ago, the Russians destroyed the museum of the famous landscape painter, stealing almost 2,000 exhibits from there, including the works by Tetiana Yablonska, Mykola Hlushchenko, and Kuindzhi himself.

Lubinets noted that "the aggressor state, which criminally appropriated not only the artist's works but also his name, destroys everything that links Kuindzhi to his native city."

The Ombudsman reported that, according to UNESCO data, for the first year of the full-scale Russian invasion, damage was confirmed to 240 objects in Ukraine – 105 religious sites, 18 museums, 86 buildings of historical or artistic value, 19 monuments, 12 libraries.

"Russia defiantly violates the norms of international humanitarian law which also protects cultural values. Destruction of cultural heritage objects is a war crime under the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict," Lubinets emphasized.