Ukraine's cultural heritage destruction: CoE Congress adopts declaration

This is said in a Declaration on the destruction of cultural heritage in Ukraine, adopted by the Congress on Tuesday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

At the session in Strasbourg, the document was supported by 122 delegates of the Congress, one voted against.

“It was therefore time to put Ukrainian cultural heritage and its recovery high on the political agenda, including at the 2025 Ukraine Recovery Conference to be held in Rome,” the document reads.

The Declaration emphasized that the Russian Federation must pay reparations for damage to historical, cultural and religious heritage: “In this context, the Ukrainian local and regional authorities had an important role to play in promoting the work of the Register of Damage and in submitting claims to the Register within the scope of their competencies”.

The Congress welcomes the fact that local and regional governments play an important role in the resilience of state institutions, ensuring the functioning of public services and responding to urgent needs.

“The Congress underlined that the targeting and looting of cultural sites appeared to reflect a systematic policy aimed at erasing Ukraine’s historical and cultural identity, consistent with a genocidal,” the document reads.

In its Declaration, the Congress called on local and regional authorities throughout Europe to step up their efforts to help Ukraine by setting up genuine cultural heritage partnerships that could address not only the current need for restoration and urgent protection but also damage and risk assessments.

As reported, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe has committed itself to supporting Ukraine in reforming local governments and achieving local democracy standards based on the principles of the European Charter of Local Self-Government.