Heritage sites hit
UNESCO World Heritage sites sustained heavy damage this week — Ukraine’s St. Andrew’s Church in Lviv was struck in a Russian attack and over 100 cultural sites in Iran, including the Golestan Palace, were reportedly hit in U.S.-Israeli airstrikes. International heritage organizations are calling for stronger protections and urgent measures to safeguard vulnerable monuments and collections. ( ) (sah.org)
Ukraine’s prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko said the 17th‑century St. Andrew’s Church in Lviv was struck during Tuesday’s daytime drone assault and local officials reported two people injured; footage of the strike was geolocated and date‑verified by Reuters‑sourced reports. (yahoo.com) Iran’s Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts issued a field‑assessment saying 114 cultural and historic sites — including World Heritage and nationally registered monuments — have been damaged in the campaign, according to the ministry’s March 24 statement. (turkiyetoday.com) Tehran’s Golestan Palace suffered shockwave and debris damage in early March with reports that windows, doors and mirrors were hit and that many movable objects had been preemptively moved to storage and chandeliers wrapped for protection. (scmp.com) International heritage bodies have issued coordinated appeals: ICOM urged immediate protection of museums and collections in the region, a coalition of preservation groups called for urgent monitoring and documentation, and Blue Shield warned that deliberate or reckless damage to cultural property could amount to violations of international law. (icom.museum) UNESCO has repeatedly highlighted the risks to World Heritage properties and reminded parties of the Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict while urging access for international assessment teams to verify and catalogue damage. (unesco.org)
