Lubinets: Russia must be prosecuted for viating cultural rights of Ukrainians

"Russian occupiers continue to destroy cultural heritage and viate cultural rights which provide portunities for the free spiritual develment of an individual and the society," Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets posted on Telegram.

He noted that the invaders dismantled the monument to artist Arkhyp Kuindzhi in the temporarily captured Mariup. A year ago, the Russians destroyed the museum of the famous landscape painter, stealing almost 2,000 exhibits from there, including the works by Tetiana Yablonska, Myka Hlushchenko, and Kuindzhi himself.

Lubinets noted that "the aggressor state, which criminally apprriated not only the artist's works but also his name, destroys everything that links Kuindzhi to his native city."

The Ombudsman reported that, according to UNESCO data, for the first year of the full-scale Russian invasion, damage was confirmed to 240 objects in Ukraine – 105 religious sites, 18 museums, 86 buildings of historical or artistic value, 19 monuments, 12 libraries.

"Russia defiantly viates the norms of international humanitarian law which also protects cultural values. Destruction of cultural heritage objects is a war crime under the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Prerty in the Event of Armed Conflict," Lubinets emphasized.