Destruction of Cultural Heritage as Exemplified by the Conflict in Ukraine
Destruction of Cultural Heritage as Exemplified by the Conflict in Ukraine

Summary/Abstract: Wars and armed conflicts have a negative impact on the cultural heritage of countries where military operations are carried out. Cultural assets are important as a historical value for a given society, a scientific value due to their cognitive value or the preservation of identity and culture, among others. It is cultural identity that influences the sense of belonging to a given society, a given group and the values it adopts. Consequently, we can conclude that through the role of cultural assets in the context of social identity, we can also talk about building social resilience, which is supposed to lead to the capacity for survival, recovery and strong bonds. The article points to international regulations that are not effective enough to stop the destruction of cultural heritage in Ukraine. The aim of this article is to point out examples of the destruction and plundering of cultural property taking place in Ukraine and the actions of both the Ukrainian side and international efforts to preserve it. A very important process is the documentation and cataloguing of cultural property and the possibility of storing movable cultural property outside the area of war or armed conflict. In the years to come, the damage done in Ukraine will require considerable financial and personnel resources to reconstruct. There is also a risk that some cultural property will never be returned to the Ukrainian side.

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