Ukraine needs nearly $9 billion to rebuild its cultural sites and tourism industry, UN agency says

PARIS (AP) — Ukraine will need nearly $9 billion over the next decade to rebuild its cultural sites and tourism industry following Russia's invasion and war, the United Nations’ cultural agency said Tuesday.

UNESCO estimated that the country's interlinked culture and tourism sector have lost over $19 billion in revenue during the war that started two years ago this month. The agency said the fighting has damaged 341 cultural sites across Ukraine, including in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, and the cities of Lviv in the west and Odesa in the south.

The agency estimated that the total cost of destruction to those cultural sites, and thousands of other “cultural assets” around the country, comes to nearly $3.5 billion.

“The cathedral of Odesa is one example of a site that was gravely damaged,” Chiara Dezzi Bardeschi, who heads the UNESCO office in Ukraine, said. ”It’s a symbol of all the community … with deep spiritual and historical meaning.”

In July 2023, UNESCO strongly condemned a “brazen attack carried out by the Russian forces” against historic buildings in the center of Odesa, an area the agency designated last year as an endangered world heritage site. The attack claimed at least two lives and damaged several sites, including the Transfiguration Cathedral.

The cathedral founded in the late 18th century is the main Orthodox church in Odesa. The original structure was destroyed in 1936, during the Soviet era, and it was rebuilt from 1999 to 2003.

UNESCO said the intentional destruction of cultural heritage sites, including religious buildings and artifacts, may amount to a war crime. The International Criminal Court first brought war crimes charges involving purposeful attacks on historic religious monuments and buildings in a case involving Mali in 2015.