In addition to the destruction brought about by the occupation, an important risk is the creation of an environment suitable for the illegal trade of movable cultural assets. Evaluating the situation, UNESCO made a statement that “the heritage of humanity is in danger”. In the light of the information received so far, it is stated that many religious places and historical buildings have been damaged in Ukraine. It is said that the Sviatohirsk Cave Monastery was badly damaged, and the Mariupol Drama Theater was completely destroyed.
Istanbul Aydın University Faculty Member Dr. According to Meriç Kılınç; The Ivankiv Museum of Local History, located near Kyiv, and the alleged destruction of the museum’s collection of Ukrainian folk art by Russia are also worrisome.
As a result of the great destruction caused by the world wars in cities and culture; We see that the international community has signed various collaborations to secure this area under law. The 1st and 2nd Hague conventions, to which Russia is also a party, impose various responsibilities on the signatory states regarding the protection of cultural heritage sites during the war.
Although the Ukrainian state makes great efforts to evacuate movable cultural assets, the threat on immovable artifacts is growing day by day. This threat is not just on monuments that have been the target of bombs. Putin’s statements that Ukraine does not have a national identity of its own reinforce the concerns that the country’s intangible cultural heritage and traces of it may also be a target.
While humanitarian and military issues of urgent importance in war processes take an important place on the agenda of countries and citizens, cultural issues can be ignored. However, cultural heritage, as a relic of past generations, is of particular importance when it is destroyed, its recovery is often impossible. It is time to popularize practices such as the Blue Shield, which is used to mark vulnerable cultural assets in Ukraine, and to draw the attention of the international community and authorities to this issue.