Council of Europe declares Russian destruction of Ukrainian cultural heritage "genocide"

The Council of Europe has declared that Russia’s destruction of Ukrainian cultural heritage is consistent with genocide. The declaration by Europe’s oldest intergovernmental organisation founded to uphold rule of law across the continent includes a demand on the Russian Federation to pay reparations to Ukraine. In a statement released on Wednesday, the Council of Europe “deplored” Russian attacks on cultural heritage sites in Ukraine since the start of the war in February 2022.

“Noting that more than a thousand cultural sites had been damaged or destroyed since the beginning of the war, the Congress underlined that the targeting and looting of cultural sites appeared to reflect a systematic policy aimed at erasing Ukraine’s historical and cultural identity, consistent with a genocidal intent,” the Council said. It’s not the first time the Russo-Ukrainian war has been designated a genocide by international authorities. Multiple European national parliaments have already done so with the Council of Europe deeming Russia’s forced transfer of children as an act of genocide in 2023.

This new text frames the genocidal intent of Vladimir Putin’s war in the context of Russia’s destruction of . Reparations to pay for the damage inflicted on historical, cultural and religious heritage are therefore in order, the Council continues. Because of this declaration, the Council will now “put Ukrainian cultural heritage and its recovery high on the political agenda, inc.