Cultural heritage in war zones: why accountability remains rare

Russian strikes continue to damage cultural heritage in Ukraine and other countries affected by war. Ukraine’s Culture Ministry reported that 148 heritage sites were damaged or destroyed in the past month.

Odesa authorities reported damage to six UNESCO-protected sites, including the 19th-century pink house of Alexander Sturdza. In 2022, Russian shelling also destroyed the Hryhorii Skovoroda museum in Kharkiv region; part of its collection had already been evacuated.

International rules, one completed case

The 1954 Hague Convention requires states to protect cultural property during armed conflict. Its 1999 Second Protocol strengthened protection for sites of exceptional cultural importance, while the ICC’s founding framework in 2002 classified intentional attacks on religious, artistic, educational and historic buildings as war crimes.

Only one such ICC case has been successfully completed. Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi was convicted of directing attacks that destroyed mausoleums and a mosque in Timbuktu.

Ukrainian activist groups have submitted complaints to the ICC against Russia over the destruction and looting of cultural property, but no indictments have resulted from those complaints.

Damage from Ukraine to Gaza

The Great Omari Mosque in Gaza was almost completely destroyed by an Israeli strike in 2023. The Israeli military said Hamas was the target; estimates cited in the report say Israeli bombardments damaged or destroyed 200,000 buildings.

More than 100 sites were also reported damaged in Iran during an air war launched by the United States and Israel in February, including Golestan Palace and Naqsh-e Jahan Square. In Sudan, fighting halted conservation work at the pyramids of Meroë, which also face erosion from advancing sand and vegetation.

Evidence exists, jurisdiction does not

Bijan Rouhani, a senior researcher with the Endangered Archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa project, said the main obstacles were jurisdiction and political will rather than a lack of evidence. Satellite imagery, remote sensing and monitoring teams can already document damage, he said.

Rouhani noted that no state representative has yet been tried for this crime. He argued that without support from major powers and sustained commitment to international law, the destruction would continue.

The Geneva-based Aliph foundation, established in 2017, funded the evacuation of valuable artefacts from Ukrainian museums. Specially equipped vehicles and specialist teams were used for the operations.