From July 6 to 16, the 47th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee is taking place in Paris.

Among the issues being discussed is the status of Odessa, specifically the report on the preservation of the «Historical Center of Odessa», which was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2023 as a site under threat.

Participants in the session include Odessa's mayor, Hennadiy Trukhanov, and the director of the Department of International Cooperation, Culture, and Marketing, Ivan Liptuga.

During the ongoing war, the historical center of Odessa has been subjected to large-scale missile and drone attacks about ten times, resulting in varying degrees of damage to over 170 cultural heritage sites.

«The aggressor is deliberately destroying Ukrainian history and ruining everything that can reflect our national identity. The actions of the Russian Federation discredit UNESCO as an influential international organization and undermine its efforts to preserve and respect the world’s cultural heritage,» commented Hennadiy Trukhanov.

Address to the World Heritage Committee from Odessa

The session will also consider a proposal to change the boundaries of the buffer zone for the UNESCO World Heritage site «Historical Center of Odessa».

The area of the UNESCO World Heritage site «Historical Center of Odessa» remains unchanged at 618.54 ha, while the area of the buffer zone is proposed to increase to 864.03 ha.