Ukraine asks UNESCO to remove Russia and organise upcoming 45th session in Lviv

Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture and Information Policy has called on UNESCO to move the 45th session from Kazan, Russia to Lviv alleging the humanitarian crisis and war crimes committed by the country during the course of its brutal invasion. It also asked the global body to expel the Russian Federation from the organisation. Russia has been systematically violating international humanitarian law and international conventions since 2014, said the cultural ministry of Ukraine according to Minister of Culture and Information Policy Oleksandr Tkachenko's post on Telegram. 

"Once again, I call on UNESCO to transfer the 45th session from Kazan to Lviv. The Russian Federation, which cynically destroys everything in its path with its own hands, cannot be the organizer of the session and a participant in the organization!” Tkachenko wrote to UNESCO. 

Russia invented 'Z' as a symbol of its atrocities: Ukraine 

Tkachenko condemned Russian artists, stating that culture has become a political tool in Russia as the actors, directors, music performers are all parroting Kremlin’s war propaganda and Moscow has invented “Z" as a symbol of its atrocities on Ukrainian civilians by its troops. "Culture is a space of freedom, inspiration, true witness and deep understanding, not the propaganda of self-aggrandizement, cruelty and humiliation of others. It is not about building distorted ideas about the world in favour of a criminal political regime, and not about crooked mirrors in which the truth does not matter,” the minister said.

"A country that started a war and uses its culture as a propaganda tool cannot be a member of UNESCO and influence the decision of the organization,” further, a statement to UNESCO by Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture and Information Policy read. “After all, its actions testify that not only does it not share the statutory goals of UNESCO, but is completely opposed to them,” it went on to add.  Ukraine alleged that the Russian cultural figures have turned into the mouthpieces of the Kremlin propaganda and they use the language of bigotry and hatred in their pro-Russian rhetoric. “Such a state cannot be given the floor to protect culture," the press service of the ministry’s statement continued. 

Russian troops have already destroyed Ukraine’s National Preserve of Tauric Chersonese and the Bakhchisaray Palace of the Crimean Khans. 

Image: AP