UNESCO mission visits Chernihiv to assess damage from Russian attacks
Representatives from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) are in Chernihiv on an official mission, Ukraine's Culture Ministry announced on Oct 30.
UNESCO is visiting Chernihiv to assess the damage to the city's cultural heritage from Russian attacks.
The team plans to collect data on damaged sites so that a restoration plan can be prepared, according to the Culture Ministry.
The damaged sites include the 12th-century Piatnytska Church, St. Anthony's Caves, and the Chernihiv Regional Academic Music and Drama Theater.
The drama theater was targeted in an attack on Aug. 19, killing at least seven people and injuring 156 others.
Russian forces used an Iskander cruise missile to strike the theater, according to Ukrainian media reports.
UNESCO undertook a similar mission in Odesa in August to assess the damage caused by repeated Russian attacks on the city in July.
Russian missile attacks on the night of July 22-23 caused significant damage to the historic city center, which was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in January 2023.
In a statement released on July 23, UNESCO condemned the attacks and highlighted that the intentional destruction of cultural sites may amount to a war crime.
