Tauric Chersonese on the UNESCO world heritage list in danger (Photo: wikipedia.org/Dmitry A. Mottl)
The Ancient City of Tauric Chersonese and its Chora in Russian-occupied Sevastopol has been added to UNESCO’s List of World Heritage in Danger, Ukraine’s Culture Ministry said on July 23.
The decision was adopted during the 48th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in Busan, South Korea. The ministry said the site’s inclusion on the list constituted international recognition of serious and specific threats to its outstanding universal value caused by Russia’s temporary occupation of Crimea and Sevastopol.
“This is an extremely important international decision that officially confirms the threats to the site posed by Russia’s temporary occupation of Crimea, illegal excavations and construction, the destruction of archaeological context and the removal of cultural property. The world sees Russia’s systematic destruction of Ukraine’s cultural heritage. Ukraine will continue to use all international mechanisms to protect our cultural heritage,” said Tetiana Berezhna, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister for humanitarian policy and culture minister.
Ivan Verbytskyi, Ukraine’s first deputy culture minister and head of the Ukrainian delegation in Busan, said the inclusion of the Ancient City of Tauric Chersonese on the List of World Heritage in Danger reflects the site’s actual condition under Russian occupation and the scale of threats caused by illegal archaeological excavations and construction.
“This decision creates additional opportunities for international monitoring, drawing attention to the condition of the site and consolidating efforts to preserve it. Ukraine will continue to use all available international mechanisms to protect cultural heritage in temporarily occupied territories,” Verbytskyi said.
The Culture Ministry said the committee strongly urged that no actions be taken that could cause further irreversible direct or indirect damage to Tauric Chersonese. The appeal also applies to other sites in temporarily occupied Crimea that are included on Ukraine’s Tentative List: the Khan’s Palace of the Crimean Khans in Bakhchysarai, the Cultural Landscape of the Cave Towns of Crimean Gothia, the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory and the complex of monuments at the Sudak Fortress.
Delegations from Poland, Czechia and Switzerland stressed the need to use mechanisms provided for under the convention to strengthen international protection of the site and preserve its outstanding universal value.
“This decision is the result of years of systematic work to collect, verify and legally assess evidence. We had to not only demonstrate the scale of the illegal interventions but also prove their direct impact on the characteristics of Tauric Chersonese that give it World Heritage status. The committee confirmed the existence of both ascertained and potential danger.
“A significant loss of authenticity, integrity and archaeological context has already been documented as a result of large-scale excavations and construction. At the same time, the occupation, changes to the site’s legal status and Ukraine’s inability to ensure its protection create risks of further irreversible damage. This is not merely a decision about the site’s status. It is a clear international recognition that the actions of the occupying state pose a systematic threat to Ukraine’s cultural heritage,” said Lina Doroshenko, national coordinator for the implementation of the 1954 Hague Convention and its protocols and Ukraine’s expert on the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.
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