“What is the point of preserving heritage if there will be no people anymore?" Interview on UNESCO's role during the war for Meduza
UNESCO is one of the main stakeholders in the field of international heritage. The mission of the organisation, which was created in late 1945 as a direct response to the devastation of the Scond World War, is to maintain peace and establish international cooperation, and its numerous conventions and international agreements are aimed at this. Russia's current war against Ukraine poses new challenges to the organisation. How does UNESCO protect Ukraine's heritage? What will happen to the world heritage sites in Russia? And how is the Russian regime manipulating historical values for political purposes? Dr Corinne Geering, historian and author of Building a Common Past, discusses this in an interview with Polina Gundarina conducted for Meduza media.
We would like to thank the media “V Lesakh” for their editing and support in the production of this material.
› Subproject 1: Values of Built Heritage
© Tsarina Tamara Temple after Russian shelling of Kharkiv. March 27, 2022. The temple is included in the UNESCO list of damaged cultural sites of Ukraine. As of 5 December 2022, UNESCO has verified damage to 224 sites. Source: Meduza