Russians destroy Ukrainian libraries and books/social networks of Lyudmila Denisova
Russian invaders on Ukrainian soil, among other things, they commit crimes against the cultural heritage of Ukraine.
Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for Human Rights Lyudmila Denisova said that Russian occupiers are destroying Ukrainian libraries and books, Channel 24 reports.
Occupiers destroyed about 60 librariesSince the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the invaders have already partially damaged or completely destroyed about 60 libraries with attacks and shelling. In addition, almost 4,000 book depositories remain in the temporarily occupied territories.
Denisova said that according to the director of the Ukrainian Institute of Books Oleksandra Koval, the Russians inflicted the greatest destruction on the Chernihiv Library for Youth, the Donetsk Library for Children, and the Makarov Public Library. Also, one of the oldest and largest book depositories in Ukraine, the library named after I. Korolenko in Kharkiv.
The Ombudswoman also noted that the fate of 20 libraries located in the destroyed city of Mariupol is unknown.
Ukrainian books are being destroyed
Russian invaders are temporarily occupied territories destroy not only buildings with book depositories, but also destroy Ukrainian books.
In particular, textbooks on history and Ukrainian literature. The so-called “military police” seizes Ukrainian fiction and historical literature from libraries in the territories of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson regions, Denisova said.
The Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights noted that such actions of the Russian occupiers violate the articles The Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. In addition, the actions of the Russians are contrary to Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court – this is a war crime.
Denisova appeals to the UN Commission of Inquiry into Human Rights Violations during the Russian military invasion of Ukraine and demands that these facts of war crimes and violations be taken into account.
Occupiers destroy Ukrainian symbols in the temporarily occupied territories
Recently Russians in the Kherson region are trying to hang out their tricolor and Soviet symbols instead of Ukrainian symbols.
On May 22, the invaders, using military equipment, tore off a large coat of arms from the memorial on the Alley of Heroes of Independent Ukraine. To remove the giant Ukrainian trident, the Russians had to bring in an armored personnel carrier, to which they attached a cable and tore off the coat of arms.
Earlier, on April 11, unknown people broke the same memorial to spread Russian propaganda. Unidentified men tore down the EU flag, smashed panels with photographs of the Heavenly Hundred and those killed in the Russian-Ukrainian war. Subsequently, videos of the destruction began to be made public on Russian propaganda resources. This is how the occupiers show the Russians the liberation of cities.
