Zelenskyy calls on UN, UNESCO as Russia bombs hermitage
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine has called for action from the United Nations and UNESCO to expel Russia from these organizations as a terrorist state that is destroying historical monuments and social infrastructure in Ukraine.
The call came on Saturday after fire sparked from Russian artillery aimed at Sviatohirsk Lavra in the Donetsk region again and destroyed the Vsikhsviatskyi Skete or “All Saints’ Hermitage.”
Sviatohirsk has been under heavy Russian bombardment since May.
It would be the second time Russian forces would desecrate the religious reclusion which was consecrated in 1912.
It was first destroyed during the Soviet era. Later it was rebuilt. And now it has been set on fire by the Russian army.
The Ukrainian forces reported on June 1 that Russian shells exploded in the cells of the Lavra monks, killing four people and injuring four others.
“The occupiers know exactly what object is being shelled. They know that there are no military targets on the territory of the Sviatohirsk Lavra. They know that there are about 300 civilians hiding from hostilities, including 60 children. But still the Russian army is shelling the Lavra like the whole of Donbas, like any other territory and any other object of Ukraine that can be reached, they don’t care what they turn into ruins,” Zelensky stated.
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine had 0n May 31 appealed to UNESCO to deprive Russia of its membership of the organization, saying no country other than Russia has destroyed so many monuments, cultural and social sites in Europe since World War II.
“Every church burned by Russia in Ukraine, every school blown up, every destroyed memorial proves that Russia has no place in UNESCO. What can we talk about with a barbarian state, with a terrorist state? About which artillery shells are better for destroying historical heritage?
“We expect a logical and fair response from the UN and UNESCO. It is the United Nations, and its Statute does not assume uniting with terrorists. Russia’s isolation must be complete, it must be held accountable for its crimes.”
